


I Owe You

by rainingover



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Anal Sex, Being mildly insulted as a kink, Bickering, Blow Jobs, Boys developing feelings, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Growth, Falling In Love, Hand Jobs, Kihyun is grouchy & is going to take it out on you, M/M, Making Out, Minhyuk will steal your wifi, Neighbors, Opposites Attract, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Propositions, Switching, offers of sex, sexual favors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:52:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 48,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9948125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainingover/pseuds/rainingover
Summary: Kihyun blames his next door neighbour, Minhyuk, for a lot of things, but he especially blames him for how long it's been since he got laid.He just doesn't expect Minhyuk to be so eager to offer his apologies.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Neighbors square for Monsta X Bingo Winter '17 edition! ~~I _think_ this will be 5 chapters, maybe 6 at a push!~~ It's gotten longer. I'll keep it as /? for now!
> 
> More tags to come as chapters are added!

Kihyun tries to ignore the noise for as long as he possibly can do, but since the arrival of his incendiary new neighbour six months ago, Kihyun has come to realise that the walls of their building are _very_ thin, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that someone has been trying to get into his apartment for at least five minutes now.

Kihyun’s date’s hands slide under his shirt and Kihyun doesn’t want to have to stop him, not when there are warm fingertips gliding up over his chest and rolling one of his nipples between them just hard enough to make him gasp. It's been forever since someone else's hands were wandering his skin and, tonight, when he’d headed out to the bar, Kihyun had made sure he looked downright _insatiable_ , because tonight he is going to get laid, no matter what.

He wants to be wrecked, wants fingertips pressing red marks into his hips and a mouth on his neck and he wants to come at least twice. It doesn’t seem too much to ask after months of falling into bed alone, jerking off to porn that stops to buffer before the action even begins because _someone_ is using his wifi to stream video games again.

Kihyun concentrates on the feeling of skin against skin and wonders if he can just ignore the noises being made outside. But, it turns out that he can't, because someone is definitely trying, and failing, to get into his apartment, and Kihyun has a pretty good idea who it is.

Sighing, Kihyun pulls away from the man in his bed, buttoning his shirt back up as best he can as he rolls to the edge of the mattress. None of the buttons end up in the right buttonholes, but he doesn't care. His date groans in frustration and Kihyun breathes, “Just-- I’ll be right back,” as he almost trips over his shoes, walking backwards out of the room.

When Kihyun opens his front door, he is faced with the exact sight he’d been expecting: his next door neighbour, hair mussed up at the front and eyes red, fighting back a yawn. Kihyun reaches out and grasps at his neighbour’s wrist to stop him from continuing to attempt to type a keycode that probably isn’t even his own into the keypad to Kihyun’s apartment. “Minhyuk, this has to stop.”

“What are you doing in my-” Minhyuk’s eyes grow comically wide as he realises his mistake, and he grins. “Oh. You know, your front door looks just like mine.”

“They all do. They’re all identical.” Kihyun crosses his arms over his chest as Minhyuk looks him up and down. “Except yours says four-oh-three and mine says four-oh-four. Why is it so difficult?”

Minhyuk wobbles on his feet and shrugs. He’s still grinning, his eyes heavy lidded. “I’m drunk," he states the obvious.

“So am I,” Kihyun replies. “It's Saturday night. I'm sure half of the people out right now are drunk. But I managed to find my own apartment. _And_ get into it.”

“God, you really have your shit together, neighbour. Kudos to you.” Minhyuk winks, or, he tries to, and, honestly, it’s a little charming, but still - Kihyun has a fairly handsome stranger in his room, half naked and waiting for him to come back to bed and have his brains fucked out, and his neighbour’s complete inability to be at the correct front door is wasting valuable hook-up time. “Sorry. I’ll leave you to your fun.”

Kihyun hovers in his doorway and watches as Minhyuk manages to enter the correct pin into his own keypad first time and opens his apartment door with a cheer.

“Make sure you drink a bottle of water before you go to bed!” Kihyun calls before Minhyuk can slam the door behind him.

Minhyuk is a little bit annoying, a little bit too much for Kihyun’s liking, and he has is uncanny knack of being around at all the wrong times, but Kihyun wouldn’t wish a hangover on even his worst enemy. “Did you hear me?” He adds, a little louder.

Minhyuk shouts something that might be, “no,” and shuts the door with only a little too much force. Kihyuns own doorframe rattles on its hinges in reply.

When Kihyun gets back to his bedroom, his well deserved hook-up is fast asleep, sprawled topless across Kihyun's bed and snoring loudly. Kihyun sleeps on the sofa, directing evil glances towards Minhyuk's apartment as he lies in the dark and sulks.

 

\--

 

It’s a little after seven on a Saturday, exactly two weeks later, and Kihyun has been trying to ignore the knocking on his living room wall for fifteen minutes. He stands at Minhyuk’s apartment door, wearing a face of thunder and his favourite shirt and huffs.

“You got my message!” Minhyuk smiles when he opens his door and sees Kihyun.

“I have someone coming over in less than five minutes.” Kihyun folds his arms. “ _Stop_ knocking on the wall.”

“Why? It’s effective! The walls here are very thin,” Minhyuk says, as if this is a good thing, which it's most definitely not.

“Oh, I know that all too well.” Kihyun counts to ten in his head. “Did you need something?”

“Can I borrow some matches?” Minhyuk asks. “If you have any? I bet you do. You have all sorts of useful things at your place.”

“No, you can’t.” Kihyun shakes his head. “I don’t want to die in a fire tonight. I want my date to arrive on time and to compliment my choice in soft furnishings and _then_ I want to get laid.”

Minhyuk looks offended.“I’m not planning on committing arson, I just really need to light a candle.”

“Why?” Kihyun closes his eyes and holds up his hands. “Actually, no, I don’t need to know why,” he says. Minhyuk is probably trying to summon a demon or something else inexplicable that will only end badly for everyone and everything involved, including Kihyun’s sex life and, honestly, Kihyun would rather not have any knowledge of what’s going on next door tonight.

Minhyuk is laughing when Kihyun opens his eyes. He leans against the doorframe, his loose sweater falling down off of one shoulder. He has nice collarbones, Kihyun thinks, if only very fleetingly, before he thinks about how much of a nuisance he is.

“So… I can borrow some, yes?” Minhyuk is eyeing him intently as Kihyun drags his gaze from Minhyuk's exposed skin. “Please?”

“Okay, fine.” Kihyun relents. He  _does_ have matches. Of course he does, what sensible home-owner doesn’t? There could be a power cut at any time; the movies make that pretty clear. “Just be careful.”

When Kihyun’s date arrives, Kihyun tries to relax, to unwind and sink into the indulgence of flirting with someone hot from the internet who hasn't turned out to be ten years older than their profile picture suggested for once. But his mind is still stuck on demonic rituals and the smell of smoke that he might or might not be imagining. On loose sweaters that show off collarbones and whether the fire alarms in the building have been tested recently.

His date shifts awkwardly on the couch as Kihyun glances towards the wall separating his and Minhyuk’s apartments and asks, “Aren’t you enjoying yourself? You seem distracted.”

“Oh!” Kihyun shakes his head a little too forcefully. “No, I’m having a great time! It’s just... Can you smell smoke?”

Kihyun’s date leaves before he’s even had a chance to serve dessert, let alone before he’s had any semblance of action, and for Kihyun there is only one person to blame.

 

\--

 

Kihyun stops by Fighter Juices every couple of days.

He’s not exactly the biggest fan of what they sell - he’s more of a coffee guy, but he does want to complain about Minhyuk and he knows that Hoseok will listen. At least, he’ll listen if Kihyun pretends he’s willing to try out the brand new luminous purple concoction that Hoseok is planning to add to his menu.

Hoseok turns on the juicer and calls, “So, how was your date at the weekend?” over the noise.

Kihyun shakes his head. “Don’t ask.”

“Was he ten years older than his photo?” Hoseok grins. “I warned you!”

“No, he wasn’t, actually.” Kihyun retorts, though he almost wishes his friend had been right, because at least then he wouldn’t be so pissed off about not getting laid, _again._ “He somehow looked even better than his photo in real life. And he drove an Audi convertible.”

Hoseok turns off the juicer and pours out two glasses. “Then what happened?” He asks as he hands one of the smoothies to Kihyun.

Kihyun puts the glass straight back down. “My neighbour happened.”

Hoseok makes a noise of acknowledgement. “Ah. The one that guessed your wifi password?”

“That’s the one,” Kihyun replies. “Now he’s realised that our building is basically made of paper and keeps knocking on the wall between our places to get my attention for stuff.”

“Stuff like?”

“Borrowing things, asking stupid questions.” Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Appearing out of nowhere to ruin my day… That sort of thing.”

Hoseok motions for Kihyun to drink his smoothie and asks, “Is he hot at least?” as if it’s even relevant. Which it isn’t.

“I haven’t thought about it,” Kihyun scowls. This isn’t strictly true, but Hoseok doesn’t need to know that. He continues ignoring his smoothie. “He’s got this gratingly happy personality and it’s like he has this sixth sense to know when I have a guy over and he just-- finds a way to ruin it every single time.”

Hosoek laughs and says, “He sounds fun.” He picks up Kihyun’s discarded smoothie and drinks that one too.

“I think I need to move out or I might never get laid again.” Kihyun sighs dramatically. “I want to cry.”

“Well, don’t do it in my shop. You’ll scare off my customers.” Hoseok leans across the counter and slaps him on the shoulder in a way that Kihyun guesses was meant to be gentle and friendly. It hurts a little bit.

“Thanks, I knew you’d understand.” Kihyun pulls a face. But he does feel a little bit better for getting to vent.  


\--

 

Minhyuk is taking up space in the lobby the when Kihyun heads down to check his post the next morning and Kihyun is tempted to kick him in the back of the ankles when he sees him out of pure petulence, but he resists.

He takes a deep breath and concentrates on opening his mailbox instead, but finding nothing in it somehow only makes him more annoyed. Most of his clients pay him online, but there are a few who still use cheque and he's sure he is still owed money from a silver wedding anniversary party that he photographed last month.

Minhyuk is squatting down next to him, in his way, sorting through a mountain of junk mail so thick it suggests he has never checked his mail since moving in, which wouldn’t surprise Kihyun one bit. Minhyuk looks up and says, “Morning. Did you have a good weekend?” And that’s the final straw.

“No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t,” he replies, and slams his mailbox shut with more force than could ever be necessary. “Do you even realise how many times in the last six months you’ve cock-blocked me?”

Minhyuk stands up, a pile of post sticking out of his mouth, clamped between his teeth like he’s a puppy bringing his owner their morning paper. He shakes his head, juggles his coffee and croissant and manages to get the post out of his mouth without dropping any of it. Kihyun would be impressed if he wasn’t so incredibly pissed off. “No. Why, how many times?”

Kihyun crosses his arms. It was a rhetorical question, but since Minhyuk has asked, he’s going to have to answer. He needs the last word in all of this, after all. “Well, I don’t know exactly,” he says. “But it’s at least five.”

Minhyuk opens his mouth, a silent “oh” on his lips. He nods a couple of times and then smiles again. “Sorry. I’ll think of a way to make it up to you!”

“Impossible,” Kihyun mutters as he heads towards the elevators, but Minhyuk doesn’t seem to hear.

 

\--

 

Kihyun spends his night deleting spam emails and refreshing his inbox to see if any of the editors he’d emailed his photography portfolio to have replied, but even after fifty hits on the refresh button, Kihyun still has no new emails that aren’t just adverts for viagra or mail-order cleaning products.

He angry-cleans his entire apartment to relieve some of the frustration and by the time he gets into bed, he’s worn out enough to almost fall asleep within five minutes, but sleep doesn’t come, because before he can drift off there is a knock on his wall and then, a minute later, a louder knock at his door.

Kihyun opens the door and stares at Minhyuk. “What?”

Minhyuk has his sweater sleeves pulled over his hands and a mask over his mouth. “I’ve been thinking about the - uh - the cockblocking thing,” He says. “I really want to pay you back.”

“Pay me? You don’t have any money!” Kihyun has no idea what is going through his neighbour's mind.  “Do you?”

Minhyuk rocks on his heels and pulls his sweater sleeves taut. “I don't mean in money.”

Of course he doesn't.

“I stopped you from getting blown or whatever it is you’re into five times?” Minhyuk says and he must be grinning underneath the mask, because his eyes crease into happy crescent moons and sparkle as he says,  “So... I owe you five sexual favours!”

Kihyun snorts. “Are you serious? No!”

“Why not?”

“Because-- just because!” Kihyun can hardly believe this conversation is real and all he can think about is how much Hoseok is going to laugh when he hears about this if Kihyun stops by the shop tomorrow. “Look, I need to go to sleep.”

“So, it’s decided?” Minhyuk looks so pleased, his eyes wide and bright and hopeful that Kihyun has a weird urge to hug him. “You’ll forgive me and I’ll fuck you five times.”

“No, that’s not what I-”

“Or you can fuck me. Or no fucking, just-- hand stuff? Whatever. I’m down for pretty much anything, even any super kinky stuff you might be into.” He nods enthusiastically, as if they’re having a discussion about whether to have pizza or barbecue for dinner and not who would hypothetically fuck who and whether there might be any unusual kinks involved. “So,  just let me know when you want to claim the first favour, okay?”

Kihyun opens his mouth but nothing comes out. The blood is rushing to his face and he wonders if he might be dreaming. Maybe he inhaled too much bleach during his angry cleaning session. “I-”

Minhyuk pulls down his mask and he is definitely smiling now. “You’re very red right now,” he says.

Kihyun finds his voice. “And that’s a surprise?”

Minhyuk considers this. “Look, if it’s a stupid proposition-”

“It is a stupid proposition,” Kihyun cuts in, but Minhyuk ignores him.

“If it’s stupid, or you’re not into me, or you just don’t want to, that’s cool.” He continues. “It just came to me that maybe-- I mean, I _do_ feel bad for ruining all of those one night stands and maybe I’ve not made the best impression since moving in, what with always borrowing your stuff and not giving it back. I suppose that maybe I lack-- uh-- tact sometimes too.” He pauses.

“Go on.”

“But I saw you in just a towel that time I came over to use your rice cooker and -- it’s not a bad image.” He licks his lips and Kihyun wonders if he even realises he’s done it. “And here you are all-- all sex starved and grouchy, and I’m just next door, and I’m single, and you’ve been a good neighbour to me since I moved in and-- did I mention that time I saw you in the towel?”

“Yes, you did.” Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Clearly, it left a big impression on you.”

“Yeah, well… I’m gonna go back to bed now.” Minhyuk decides. The grin is gone, replaced by the tiniest hint that he’s actually flustered for once in his life. He adds, “Just consider it,” before he goes back to his own apartment and leaves Kihyun standing at his door until he finds the ability to move his legs again.

Much to Kihyun’s irritation, he _does_ think about it, even if it’s the most terrible, most ridiculous proposition anyone has made to him in his entire life.

He thinks about it until he falls asleep, and then again the next morning. And then he forces himself to stop thinking about it, because it really, really is a stupid idea, even if it _has_ been forever since Kihyun got laid and maybe Minhyuk _is_ hotter than the average resident in their block, and he’d said himself that he’s single and he’s just there, next door, behind the annoyingly thin wall.  
  
It’s a stupid, ridiculous, hot offer and it will _not_ be one he’s accepting.


	2. Chapter 2

Kihyun manages to avoid Minhyuk for almost three full days before Minhyuk catches up to him, literally, in the lobby of their building. “I had an idea!” He calls cheerfully as Kihyun tries to slip past him unnoticed. “Want to hear it?”

Kihyun just shakes his head, says, “No,” and keeps walking. He actually makes it outside before Minhyuk is right there, at his heel again and something (his conscience, maybe) stops him from continuing to walk away.  

Kihyun looks at his feet. He knows he’s being a bit of a dick and he doesn’t _want_ to be, well, not really, but he’s annoyed with himself and with the fact he’s even been thinking about Minhyuk’s offer at all, nevermind thinking about it _all the damn time_. He’s annoyed that he’s even contemplated it one little bit.

He’s also finding it difficult to look at Minhyuk directly in the face without remembering him stood in his doorway after midnight, or, specifically, remembering him licking his lips without even realising it.

Minhyuk taps him lightly on the arm. “Just hear me out?”

“Fine.” Kihyun looks up. “What is it?”

Minhyuk takes a breath and Kihyun tries not to focus on his mouth as he says,  “I was thinking that when you want to accept my, um, proposition, you could just knock on the wall between our places. It can be our signal.”

Minhyuk drops his voice and leans in closer. “Our sex signal,” he adds, as if this wasn’t clear.

Kihyun wonders if he can blame his blush on the sharp pinch of the cold wind on his cheeks now they're outside. He rolls his eyes dramatically to make sure Minhyuk knows he still hasn't come round to the idea. “And what if you don’t hear me knocking?” He asks. He still can’t quite believe this is his life. “I mean, obviously it's just a hypothetical question anyway because it probably won't be happening.”

Minhyuk grins. “Probably?”  

Kihyun doesn’t bother to respond.

 

\--

 

Kihyun stares at the empty wall above his bed.

There’s a photograph of the lake at sunset that he’s intended to put there for a long time. It’s his favourite photo, showing balloons strewn over the water. They look like they’re dancing on the surface, all the colours reflecting off the water below. It’s an outtake shot he took after the wedding party he was commissioned to shoot last Summer and it's one which he had printed on a whim four months ago.

He’d had it printed after a particularly bad week in an effort to remind him that he _is_ a good photographer and that he _will_ make it if he just continues to work hard, but soon after he’d picked it up from the print-shop, Kihyun’s positivity had dissipated and so both print and frame had been stashed away under his bed, where they’ve remained. Until tonight.

Kihyun carefully lays the print on top of his duvet as he pulls the frame out from under the bed and blows dust from the corner of the glass. He’s finally going to put it up, if he can just figure out how to make sure he hammers the hooks into the wall without knocking the entire, paper-thin structure down.

It takes thirty minutes and one sore thumb, but he gets the hooks hammered in and the frame up on the wall. It even looks kind of straight if you squint. He’s actually quite impressed with his effort.

Kihyun stands back and scrutinises the angles of the frame corners for any sign that they need adjusting, and he’s so deeply agonising over the bottom left side that he actually jumps when he hears the loud knock at his door.

“Your place or mine?” Minhyuk asks breathlessly when Kihyun opens up. He smells of cologne and there’s toothpaste at the corner of his mouth and Kihyun has no idea what he’s talking about.

“What?”

“Where do you wanna-- do it? You get to choose since I’m the one who owes you one. Five ones, I mean.” He blushes, brings his finger up to his mouth and presses it to his lip. He misses the toothpaste entirely, so it’s still there when he adds, “Sorry, I got, um, washed in a rush. I really didn’t think you’d take me up on it, so I was kind of surprised.”

Kihyun stares at the toothpaste mark, furrows his brow and tries to understand what the hell is happening. “I don’t know why you think...”

“You knocked?” Minhyuk points behind Kihyun. Towards his bedroom. Where Kihyun has been hammering on the wall.

Oh.

“I was putting up a picture,” Kihyun clarifies. “With a hammer.”

“Right.” Minhyuk looks kind of crestfallen and Kihyun actually feels a little guilty. “A hammer. I thought it seemed… Loud.”

“Sorry.” Kihyun is becoming increasingly tempted to just wipe the toothpaste from his ridiculous neighbour’s nice mouth himself. “I’ll try to keep the noise down now.”

Minhyuk smiles too brightly.

Weirdly, Kihyun feels kind of awful when he shuts the door and returns to his print. His neighbour is a ludicrous human who can’t recognise his own front door after a few drinks and doesn’t keep spare lightbulbs or matches or a steam cleaner, but he isn’t a bad person. He’s annoying and he’s too present in Kihyun’s life, but he’s not _bad_.

And the thing is that Kihyun can’t help but think that Minhyuk had actually seemed like he wanted Kihyun to take him up on the offer. And not just to be polite but because he wanted to _sleep_ with him. He doesn’t want to admit it, but it’s kind of endearing, and a fucking massive compliment. Even if it was born out of obligation.

Kihyun gets into bed, scrutinising the straightness of the print above his head as he does, and wonders whether accepting sex as an I Owe You is morally wrong. Not that he’s going to accept it… Not yet, anyway.

Kihyun is, quite frankly, confused.

 

\--

 

Hoseok doesn’t even bother to try to get him to drink anything that looks like it should be in vegetable form and not in a glass this time. Instead he turns the sign on his shop window to closed, scribbles a quick note that says he’ll be back in fifteen minutes, and takes Kihyun to the coffee place across the street for pure caffeinated indulgence.  

“What’s he done now?” He asks as Kihyun picks up his triple shot mocha from the counter. This is his favourite coffee place within a ten block radius of his place and not just because Jooheon gives him an extra shot and chocolate syrup for free on most days.

“Who?” Kihyun takes a sip and burns his tongue in the process.

“Super hot neighbour!”

“Why would you assume…” Kihyun stops and tries to backtrack. “He’s not even that hot!”

Hoseok grins, slyly. “But you knew who I meant...”

Kihyun curls his lips into an unimpressed sneer. “You caught me off guard is all.”

Hoseok laughs. “So? Spill it…”

Kihyun bites his lip. “I _might_ have told him to his face that I blame him entirely for my lack of successful dates recently.”

Hoseok looks dubious about Kihyun’s recollection of events. “You said it in those exact words?”

Kihyun Says, “No, I told him he was cock-blocking me. It's not like it isn't true!”

“And what did he say?”

Kihyun thinks about telling him the whole truth. He was going to do it, was going to laugh about it and boast and call it an indecent proposal as a joke, but he realises now they're there, in the moment, that he can't, because part of him has stopped thinking it's that stupid and started worrying that he wants to sleep with his actually-quite-attractive neighbour more than he might have realised.

So, instead Kihyun just says, “I can't remember what he said,” and finishes his coffee in silence.

 

\--

 

Kihyun opens up his laptop. He hadn't checked his emails all afternoon. He'd headed straight to the lake after his coffee date with Hoseok, had taken photos until the sunset and had walked home via the grocery store to pick up some of his favourite cookies. He loads his emails and finds junk, junk, more junk and then, finally, one response to an application for a job. There's a feeling in the pit of his stomach that tells him this is going to be the offer he's been waiting to come along, the one that will change _everything,_ but his eyes tell him otherwise.

Kihyun re-reads the email for a second time, just in case the words change, but they don’t.

Another rejection email. And he doesn’t even have anything to angry clean. He feels helpless and talentless. He hasn’t had a paid photography job that wasn't a family portrait or a kid’s first birthday party in almost as long a time as he hasn’t got laid.

Too long.

He hits reply to the email, starts to type a sarcastic reply, really getting out his pent up aggression, all the frustration that's been building in his shoulders… But before he goes to hit send, the sensible, or maybe it's the reckless, part of him wonders if there might just be a better way to gain release without burning his bridges with every publication in the city.

And maybe it’s something to do with the full moon, or maybe he’s just gone completely fucking crazy, but then the email draft is in his deleted folder and his fist is curled into a ball and he’s knocking on the wall between his and Minhyuk’s apartments, before he can even think properly.

His heart is beating so fast he thinks he might fall over as he waits, listens for any signs of footsteps or a door opening. But Minhyuk doesn’t show.

He doesn’t fucking show up. Kihyun has _knocked_ , just like Minhyuk suggested, and Minhyuk isn’t at his door. He opens his front door to peer into the hallway, nervous and pissed off and embarrassed. The tension is still there in his shoulders, tight as ever as he steps back into his apartment. And then he hears the unlocking of a door.

“Did you knock?” There's a lilt to Minhyuk's voice, kind of flirty, kind of hopeful.

Minhyuk looks a lot less put together than he did the other night, even if there's no toothpaste on his lip, but it does nothing to distract from the fact that Kihyun isn’t having second thoughts about this. It feels surreal, sure, and still wound up tightly, but it felt good to knock, it feels good to be wanted. And he wants to feel even better.

Kihyun nods.

Minhyuk pauses in the doorway. “You definitely weren’t just putting up a picture this time?”

“No.” Kihyun huffs out a breath. “Does your offer still stand or not?”

Minhyuk grins. “It definitely stands. You’re going to be so glad you didn’t have sex with all of those other guys!”

Kihyun tries not to smile. Says, “I'm in a bad mood, by the way.”

“Not obvious at all,” Minhyuk replies, grinning. “I’ll be back at your door in five minutes, ‘kay?”

Kihyun says, “Whatever,” and stomps back into his apartment. His heart is still thumping and he’s suddenly feeling self conscious and nervous and excited all at once. He’s had a few one night stands. He’s been on strings of three or four dates that never went anywhere. He’s had casual relationships, but he’s never had-- an arrangement like this. He doesn’t think he’s ever met anyone before who would even _think up_ such an arrangement.

What sort of person offers _sex_ as an apology? What sort of person _accepts_ it? Kihyun isn't sure he really wants answers.

Minhyuk is at his door with a giant box of condoms just _there_ , for all to see, held in his hands a few minutes later. Kihyun pulls him inside, god forbid one of their less ridiculous neighbours spots him, and says, “Could you not be more discreet?”

Minhyuk doesn’t answer. Just asks, “So, which ruined night am I paying you back for tonight?” and tilts his head with an intrigued smile.

Kihyun says, “I don’t know,” as he leads the way to his room, stopping to ask Minhyuk to take off his sneakers as they go.

Minhyuk does as he’s asked and then muses on the answer to his own question as he sets his shoes behind the door. “I know. This could be for the time that I let that stray cat into the building and you opened your door to shout at me because your date was going “really well” and the cat--”

Kihyun sits on the bed, closes his eyes and makes a frustrated noise. The air quotes are _not_ necessary, the date had been going well, and Kihyun does not want to remember that debacle. “Shut up and come here before I change my mind,” he says.

“Gladly.”

Minhyuk sits down next to him then, and he's only a little taller than Kihyun is when he's sitting down. Kihyun feels kind of smug about this. Maybe it shows on his face, because Minhyuk gives him a look that's as inquisitive as it is amused. "So..?"

Kihyun stops feeling smug and starts to feel nervous. He doesn't want to let it show, though, so he quirks an eyebrow and says, "So what?"

Minhyuk laughs. "So... Do you want to make out first or are you more of a straight into the main act kind of guy?"

"I-- yeah kissing is good."

Minhyuk licks his lips the way he had when he'd stood at Kihyun's door and had suggested this whole endeavour and  maybe Kihyun really _does_ find Minhyuk more attractive than he’s given him credit for because that distracts him just enough to forget what is coming next, and so he almost startles when Minhyuk kisses him.

It takes a few seconds for his brain to process what is happening and then-- _then_ he manages to find the ability to kiss back, tilts his head and meets Minhyuk's tempo; slow and experimental at first, almost hesitant as they trade soft kisses. It feels almost chaste, which Kihyun finds ridiculous because there is nothing chaste about this arrangement. He's about to say something when Minhyuk shifts, hand sliding up to Kihyun's shoulder and pushing him down against the bed, knee settling between Kihyun’s legs, and Kihyun is annoyed because that was _smooth_ and Minhyuk isn't allowed to be smooth, he's only allowed to be attractive in an annoying kind of way. 

Minhyuk's hand leaves Kihyun's shoulder and it's not like Kihyun is touch-starved, except he _is_ , and he misses the pressure of Minhyuk's firm hand pushing him against the bed as soon as it leaves his shoulder, but then Minhyuk shifts own top of him, rolling his hips down and Kihyun realises he is definitely touch-starved, because he's so hard already, and Minhyuk clearly can tell, and-- well, he'd be angry about this if he could find it in him to feel anything other than confused and turned on. 

Minhyuk pulls back, hand back on his shoulder and looks Kihyun directly in the eyes. "I'm bored. Want me to blow you now?" He asks.

Kihyun bristles. Who tells someone they're bored when they're _kissing_ them? "Not if you think I'm boring, I don’t.”

"I didn't mean it like that. I just... I owe you more than some PG13 rated first date action, don't I?" Minhyuk’s gaze moves pointedly to Kihyun's lap. He cheeks are flushed. "Plus I kind of want to see your dick."

Kihyun blinks. He shouldn't be surprised at his neighbour's bluntness, but somehow after the slow, lazy, soft kisses, the words. ‘see your dick’ come as a surprise. "I-- you can suck me off, sure." He purses his lips. "Just don't tell me I'm boring you or I will knee you in the face."

"You're always so angry towards me." Minhyuk grins. "I like that."

"Good." Kihyun huffs. "Because I don't plan on changing."

"Hmmm. We'll see." Minhyuk gets onto the floor and positions himself between Kihyun's legs, his hands set on one knee each, nudging them open to widen the space for him to kneel down.

"No we won't," Kihyun replies, but then Minhyuk's unzipping his jeans and he's still grinning, and he looks so fucking excited, and, really, Kihyun can't remember the last time anyone looked so happy to be about to put their mouth around his cock. It's nice, if a bit like having an out of body experience, especially when he realises that his jeans are now on the floor and he doesn’t even know how Minhyuk got them off without him noticing.

Kihyun watches as Minhyuk's eyes light up in delight. "Pink suits you.” Minhyuk runs his thumb over the hem of his briefs. It tickles Kihyun’s inner thigh.

Kihyun pretends the way that Minhyuk’s hands are on him isn’t affecting him. “They’re red,” he says, but he knows they’re not. They’re definitely pink, and he definitely should have remembered putting them on in a rush this morning.

"I can’t believe that my super angry neighbour wears pink underwear.” Minhyuk’s voice is quieter than usual, and he isn’t even looking at Kihyun’s face for a reaction, he’s focused on the pale skin on show as he pushes the fabric further up Kihyun’s thigh until it’s bunched up, dark hair against the skin where his pants were before. “This is so hot.”

And then he goes and licks his lips again, like he _knows_ it’s Kihyun’s weakness. But he can’t know, because Minhyuk’s face is between Kihyun’s legs and he can’t even see the way that Kihyun’s gritting his teeth to stop himself from begging his stupid, ridiculous neighbour to put his mouth against the fabric.

Kihyun just about manages not to resort to begging. Instead he says, “I’m happy you’re getting to have such a great epiphany, but if you haven’t forgotten, you’re meant to be apologising to me with your mouth and _not_ by speaking.”

“Oh yeah.” Minhyuk looks up with a lopsided smile. “Sorry I’ve been a bad neighbour,” he says, as if he only half means it. Then he hooks his fingers into the waistband of Kihyun’s underwear and rolls the fabric down.

The pink pants end up somewhere left of the jeans and Kihyun hardly has time to blink before Minhyuk’s right hand is tight around the base of his cock and his lips are sliding over the head. Kihyun stares as it disappears into Minhyuk’s mouth, curls his fists into the bedsheets as he watches Minhyuk work him over.

Kihyun realises that this is the longest he’s heard Minhyuk quiet since he moved in next door, and maybe the most focused he’s seen him to. Minhyuk’s eyes are almost shut, but not quite, and his lips are red and wet and maybe Hoseok is right, for once. Maybe Minhyuk _is_ super hot.

Maybe. He can’t be sure, yet. But he can be sure that this is the best fucking blow job he’s been given in a long time. And it is definitely making up for that time with the stray cat and the ruined date.

 

\--

 

Kihyun hears the shower in Minhyuk’s apartment turn on.

He’d offered to get Minhyuk off after (after forgetting not to moan, after curling his fingers into Minhyuk’s hair like he had done into the bed-sheets and coming into his mouth with a shout), but his neighbour had shook his head with a grin, even though Kihyun could tell he was hard from the tightness in his jeans.

Minhyuk had said, “You don’t owe me anything,” and had stolen the full box of cookies from Kihyun’s kitchen counter before he’d left, already shoving one into his mouth as he’d shouted “Keep the condoms for next time,” far too loudly as he entered the shared hallway.

Kihyun doesn’t know what to think, except he’s having trouble thinking at all. His mind is jelly: flashes of Minhyuk licking his lips interspersed with the slope of his nose from his viewpoint above him as he’d hollowed his cheeks and taken his cock in all the way to the back of his throat. .

Kihyun falls asleep half-hard again, lying on top of his bed. His jeans still on the floor when wakes up hungry two hours later. He heads to the kitchen for a handful of cookies, still sticky inside his briefs, but there aren’t any cookies, of course there aren’t. They’re next door along with most of his wifi bandwidth, a box of matches, his favourite winter coat, his handheld steam cleaner and his entire box-set of Breaking Bad.

Kihyun pulls a plastic container of red pepper and beef stew out of his fridge, sits cross legged on the sofa and eats it from the carton. Decides that Minhyuk was right; Kihyun really doesn’t owe him anything because he’s given Minhyuk more than enough in the last six months. And, no matter how hot he may or may not be, Kihyun does _not_ feel disappointed that he didn’t get to see Minhyuk without his clothes on during favour number one.

Well, not too disappointed, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <333 thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Kihyun is waiting for the elevator, coffee in hand, when Minhyuk appears, all casual and smiling as though the last time he saw Kihyun he wasn’t half naked (and from the waist down, no less). Kihyun makes it his mission to act like he hasn’t even noticed who it is he is standing next to in the corridor, but it’s difficult because Minhyuk starts talking within a second of being there.

“Who is it by?” He asks, pressing the button for the elevator four times in a row, even though it was already lit up.

Kihyun fights the urge to swat his hand away from the button. “What?”

“The picture - the print above your bed. I noticed it the other night.” Minhyuk presses the button once more and the elevator doors open as if summoned. “It’s pretty cool. I think that maybe my apartment needs something like that.”

Kihyun steps inside the elevator and scowls at his neighbour. “You aren’t “borrowing” my print.”

“I know that. But I can buy my own if you tell me who the artist is.”

“Well, actually, you can’t, because it’s mine.” Kihyun steps between Minhyuk and the elevator buttons so he can’t be tempted to press any unnecessarily. “I mean, I'm the art-- photographer.” He can’t find it in himself to call himself an artist. Not when he’s had three rejection emails in a row

“Are you serious?” Minhyuk looks ridiculously impressed at this and, if Kihyun didn’t know him any better, he’d assume Minhyuk was taking the piss, but as it is, Khyun has seen Minhyuk’s eyes light up at the sight of a mere free pizza coupon left in his mailbox, so, Kihyun can be quite certain that Minhyuk’s awe is genuine.

“Yes.” He sighs. “I’m a photographer, it's pretty obvious. How many times have you been in my place?!”

“It isn’t. It’s not like you have cameras everywhere,” Minhyuk points out. “You’re very tidy, I didn’t realise. Sorry.”

“Hmmm.”

The elevator doors open and Kihyun steps out first. Minhyuk walks behind him quietly, until  finally, he says, “Hey! If you get famous can I tell people I slept with you?”

Kihyun stops outside his apartment door and Minhyuk almost bumps into him, his chest against Kihyun’s back. “No, you can’t.”

“Aww. Why?” Minhyuk says into his hear. “Do you hate me that much?”

“Yes.” Kihyun opens his door and turns back around, Minhyuk still right there, super close. Or maybe it just feels like it, heat prickling Kihyun’s neck. “No. I just, uh, I mean, you haven’t actually slept with me. Not, uh, yet.”

“So you do want me to fuck you?” Minhyuk sounds fucking  _elated_. Kihyun turns away and walks inside. “Are you gonna wear pink again?”

“Again when?” Kihyun puts down his coffee. Minhyuk follows him in as if he’s been invited (which he certainly has not) and eyes up the coffee himself as if it would be okay for him to just reach out and take a sip.

Minhyuk gestures to the cup with his eyebrows raised, silently asking if he can. Kihyun frowns but doesn’t bother to argue when Minhyuk picks it up and drinks from it. “ _Again_ , like when you get in a bad mood over something and knock on the wall so I can come over to show you how sorry I am for apparently being the sole reason no one has put their dick near you for, like, five years or something.”

“Five- five _months_ , thank you.” Kihyun removes his cup of coffee from Minhyuk’s hand, ignoring Minhyuk’s cry of displeasure. “And who says it’s going to happen again? Just because you offered five favours,, doesn’t mean I have to accept them all.”

Minhyuk looks stumped. “True,” he says. “Can I at least look at the cool print in your room again?”

“You can look for, like, a second,” Kihyun says. “I mean it. And then leave me alone.”

 

\--

 

Kihyun balances the wine glass between his knees and leans over to pick up his camera, overbalancing in the process. His camera is safe, thank fuck, but his jeans stain a vibrant purple, and the duvet around him swims in pinot noir.

“For fucks sake.” He strips off his wet jeans and heads straight into the bathroom with his jeans and his duvet cover bundled up. He tosses the pile into the bottom of the shower, so they can’t stain anything else, and sets about finding the hardcore stain remover he had to invest in after that time Minhyuk let the stray cat got into his place and it pissed all over everything.

This is _not_ the Friday night Kihyun wanted to be having. He _wanted_ a glass of wine. He wanted for the knots in his shoulders to relax. He wanted to send at least five portfolio emails out to prospective clients and maybe then to flirt with other bored singles in the area on one of the three hook-up apps he has installed on his phone.

But that isn’t what he’s getting, so he guesses he’ll just have to make do.

He knocks on the wall after spending the last of his spare change in the coin laundry across the street.

Minhyuk has a games console remote in his hands and a flushed, panicked look on his face. The face of someone losing at FIFA to a stranger in a different timezone, he explains, when he pokes his head out round his apartment door and finds Kihyun standing in the hallway. “I thought you weren’t planning on knocking again?”

“I’ve spilt red wine all over my bed.” Kihyun crosses his arms.

Minhyuk opens his mouth. “I have no idea how to deal with stained-”

Kihyun makes a frustrated noise and cuts him off. “My sheets are in the wash with extra strong stain remover, that’s not why I’m here. Well, it is, because they won’t be washed and dried for another two hours or so and I’m not in the mood to try to work anymore, and I just thought… Since you do owe me...”

He realises that he doesn’t need to ramble, doesn’t need to give excuses, because Minhyuk has already tossed the PS4 controller somewhere inside the room behind him, leaving ManCityFan376 behind to wonder why his opponent isn’t coming back. And then his door is shut  and he’s already backing Kihyun up into his own apartment, the happiest smile Kihyun has ever seen across his (pretty damn hot, Kihyun admits it) face.

“This,” Minhyuk says, kicking Kihyun’s apartment door shut behind them, “Is for the time I tried to break into your apartment by accident when I was drunk and you came to the door super angry and hot with your shirt all messed up and scolded me.”

Kihyun can’t help but feel pleased that Minhyuk remembers this, even though he was clearly worse for wear. “You thought I looked hot that night?”

“Uhuh.” Minhyuk kisses him.

“So did I.” Kihyun pulls back. “I looked _so_ hot. And you cockblocked me!”

Minhyuk laughs and puts his hands up in surrender. “Guilty as charged.”

“You really, really, owe me this one,” Kihyun tells him, takes his wrist and pulls him in closer. They kiss again, open mouthed and hungry, and Kihyun forgets the stained sheets, forgets the tension in his shoulders and the rejection emails and concentrates on being wanted.

“Actually,” Minhyuk nips at the soft skin above his collarbone as they walk, his hand at Kihyun’s hip, fingers spread wide across the skin under his t-shirt. “I still owe you four ones, if you want them.”

 

\--

 

This time, Kihyun makes sure that Minhyuk is naked first. Completely, totally naked in the middle of Kihyun’s living room, where they stay after remembering that the whole reason this is happening is because Kihyun’s bed is out of action for the next two hours.

“Why were you drinking alone?” Minhyuk asks as he slides one hand underneath Kihyun’s sweats and straight down the front of his pants and uses the other to tug Kihyun’s sweater up.

“Why are you asking questions?” Kihyun replies, helps Minhyuk to get pull his sweater over his head. The neck of the sweater gets caught under his nose for a second as they struggle to get it over his head and Minhyuk almost laughs, but Kihyun is staring daggers at him as soon as his eyes reappear in sight. “Don’t you fucking dare laugh at me,” he says, as the sweater comes off and drops to the floor and Minhyuk tries to suppress his amusement badly.

Kihyun can’t be mad for long because then Minhyuk’s hand is firmly wrapped around his cock, pumping him in fluid motions and the head rubs against the waistband of his pants with every flick of Minhyuk’s wrist. Kihyun bites at his bottom lip, looks down between them to where Minhyuk’s own cock is hard, pressed up between his smooth stomach and Kihyun’s slightly softer one, the height difference between them noticeable like this, standing so close.

“Shall we?” Kihyun takes a step backwards, nearer to the couch, taking Minhyuk with him. He doesn’t want to be reminded that Minhyuk is taller. It’s annoying.

Minhyuk lets out a surprised noise as Kihyun steps away. “Warn me next time,” he says against Kihyun’s jaw as they move, his hand still shoved down the front of Kihyun’s sweatpants.

“No,” Kihyun says, because Minhyuk has already been almost-laughing at him and he isn’t over it yet. He doesn’t get over things easily, which he supposes is why he’s even here, doing this. “Why should I?”

Minhyuk laughs. Bends his knee a little and nudges Kihyun backwards until the back of his legs hit the couch.

“You really do hate me, don’t you?” He asks, as Kihyun sinks down onto the couch, and when he looks up Minhyuk is grinning, so he might be joking, but it’s a stupid question anyway because why would Kihyun be doing _this_ if he full blown hated him? 

“No. You’re just very, very annoying.” Kihyun takes off his sweatpants and his underwear in one go and leans back on his elbows, looks up at Minhyuk who is standing over him, still smiling, always smiling, even when Kihyun is telling him he’s irritating and adds, “Especially right now.”

Minhyuk’s smile doesn’t falter as he settles over Kihyun, nudging a leg between Kihyun’s thighs. He rolls his hips down against Kihyun's and looks him in the eye. “Even right now?”

Kihyun ignores the spike of pleasure running through him and grits his teeth.“Yes.”

“What about now?” Minhyuk settles against Kihyun's body and wriggles a little to get a comfortable angle to push his hand between them, wrapping his hand back around Kihyun's cock like it belongs there or something.

" _Yes_. Especially now.”

Minhyuk calls him a liar and slides his thumb over the head of his cock, laughing as Kihyun's mouth falls open. "You're so funny when you're pretending not to enjoy something," he says, and Kihyun wants to deny that this is the case, but Minhyuk's hands are so much bigger than his, bigger than he's been used to for the last six months, and his fingers apparently have a magical ability to render Kihyun speechless and it _is_ annoying, but mainly because Kihyun is losing his goddamn mind right now.

"Just keep doing that and stop talking." Kihyun closes his eyes and concentrates on how damn good he feels, Minhyuk's hand working inexplicable magic between them and Minhyuk's stupidly attractive mouth is working its way along his jaw. And it does feel good. Maybe it's something to do with knowing he doesn't have to worry about doing the wrong thing or saying the wrong thing, because he can say _anything_ to Minhyuk and he still continues to get him off.

Minhyuk's mouth meets his own just as he squeezes harder at the base of Kihyun’s cock and Kihyun keens at everything happening all at once and thinks, maybe he was never ever going to turn down this proposal at all.

Someone deepens the kiss and it might be him that does it, not that he'll admit this later, and Minhyuk's hand is working faster and his tongue is sliding hungrily over Kihyun's and Kihyun is suddenly so aware of how hard Minhyuk is against his thigh and he's not even been touched yet - hasn't even given in to the relief of snapping his hips against Kihyun's body again - and Kihyun can't understand how he isn't begging for relief.

He slips his own hand between them and takes hold of Minhyuk's cock. It's wet at the end, leaking against his thigh and he stirs as Kihyun slides his fingers over the damp skin. "What-?" Minhyuk pulls away from their kiss, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "I haven't got you off yet."

"So?" Kihyun watches his mouth, the way he wets his lips with his tongue as Kihyun shifts to get a better grip on him.

"You want to fuck?" Minhyuk asks, finally, voice breathy and light.

"Okay. Like... You fucking me?"

"If you want?"

"Okay, yeah. Yeah. I’ll just get--” Kihyun gestures towards the hallway that leads to his room and Minhyuk makes space for him to stand up. Kihyun does his very best not to wobble on his feet as he stands up, light headed, heart thumping in his chest.

 

\--

 

When he gets back, lube in one hand and condoms in the other, Minhyuk takes them from him and kisses him again. He works the lid off the lube clumsily and Kihyun has sudden visions of the lid rolling away across the room, never to be found again. That would not be okay.

He takes the tube from Minhyuk’s hands and coats Minhyuk’s fingers with it, making sure the lid is tightly back in place before he lets the tube go again. He hopes it won’t disappear down between the couch cushions, but the thought is only fleeting because then Minhyuk has one hand on his ass, kneading at the soft flesh, and two fingers of the other hand, the slick one, pressed against his entrance.

Kihyun whines involuntarily and Minhyuk laughs against his mouth and, _fuck_ , that’s annoying, but then there’s a finger inside of him, and it’s not much yet, but it’s _something_ , and he’s needed something, wanted something like this for a long time.

Minhyuk adds a second finger, and then a third, curls them up inside of him and then the pleasure is running through Kihyun like electricity. He presses back against Minhyuk’s fingers, wiggles his ass and gasps and, for a moment, forgets why they’re doing this. That this is meant to be convenience and pay back and not passion.

When Minhyuk takes out his fingers and pushes Kihyun’s legs open wider, higher, lining himself up against Kihyun’s entrance as he rolls the condom over his cock and licks at his lips in concentration. Kihyun is already half gone and watching Minhyuk’s tongue sliding over his bottom lip doesn’t help.

“Hurry up,” he hisses, blushing as Minhyuk looks up at him in surprise. “Because I’m getting bored,” he adds, because he doesn’t want his annoyingly hot neighbour, of all people, to think he’s going to beg to be fucked, and also because he’s still kind of pissed about Minhyuk saying it last time they were in a similar position.

Minhyuk doesn’t seem to take offence, just splays a hand over Kihyun’s hip and moves his hips forward slowly, mouth pressed together as he pushes further inside. It feels like it takes forever before Minhyuk starts rolling his hips, but that’s okay because it’s been a long time and Kihyun had forgotten how overwhelming it is to feel completely filled.

“Can I-- you want it faster?” Minhyuk asks between breaths after a while and Kihyun just nods, wrapping his own hand around himself as Minhyuk quickens his thrusts, presses his thumb hard into the skin next to Kihyun’s hip.

It feels good, everything that’s happening: the angle and the rhythm and the face that Minhyuk is making above him, concentrating on getting Kihyun off. Kihyun’s works his erection over as Minhyuk fucks him over and over again, moves his hand over his cock the way he usually does in the shower in the morning, except he’s not usually being fucked at the same time, and now he is and it’s so, so good.

He whimpers when he comes and instantly wishes he hadn’t because Minhyuk’s watching him now, his mouth turning up into that excitable smile he always wears when he drops by to steal Kihyun’s cooking, or boxes of cookies, or his dinner and his cookies _and_ his pizza coupons, all at once.

"Damn, you really are a nuisance," Kihyun mumbles, as he continues to jerk his wrist lazily, riding through the comedown as Minhyuk still moves inside of him.  “Most annoying neighbour I’ve ever had,” he continues mindlessly and Minhyuk's hips are stuttering against his ass while he speaks. He’s breathing so quickly and his arms are tense and his fingers dig hard into Kihyun’s side.

He comes with a shout, his arms relaxing, his thumb rubbing softly over Kihyun’s hip as he catches his breath.

Kihyun says, “Seriously? I called you _annoying_ and you instantly came?"

“A coincidence," Minhyuk says as he pulls out torturously slowly and rolls the condom off his length, but Kihyun remembers the way he’d happily slid between his knees, looked up at him and said he liked it when Kihyun was mean to him last time, so Kihyun doesn’t believe him one bit. “Anyway, this isn’t about me. It’s about you. I’m happy you finally got laid, neighbour.”

“Shut up.” Kihyun rolls his eyes, but he’s happy too. More happy than he thought he’d be, actually, considering who it was with.

Minhyuk pulls on his pants and jeans. His sweater he puts on backwards, the label sticking out of it under his chin, and he doesn't even seem to notice it. Kihyun resists the urge to jump up off the couch and fix Minhyuk's clothes. "You can leave now." Kihyun pulls a cushion over his lap, and scowls.

If Minhyuk notices the irritable curl of his lip, he doesn't mention it. Or he simply doesn't mind. "See you next time," he calls as he leaves, and this time Kihyun doesn't bother to claim there isn't going to be a next time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope someone is still enjoying this :3!


	4. Chapter 4

Kihyun makes his midweek visit to X Coffee, the coffeeshop across the road from Fighter Juices. He likes to go at least four times a week when he can - for the amazing coffee, of course, but also to check on his photos: the three that are up for sale on the wall behind the counter. Except there’s only two there today.

His coffee is ready, made exactly how he likes it, by the time that Kihyun gets to the front of the line and the head barista, Jooheon, hands it to him with a perfect Customer Service friendly smile, his dimples on show, as always.

Jooheon is barely a year younger than him, but Kihyun sometimes feels like Jooheon is his adoptive coffee-serving younger brother. Kihyun knows that Jooheon only feels like a kid to him because of his positivity, and Kihyun also knows that this is stupid - just because _he_ isa jaded cynic who should have made it in his career of choice years ago, doesn’t make him more of an adult than Jooheon.It just makes him less content.

Jooheon is especially happy today. “Good morning!” He grins and leans over the counter. “Did you get my text about the photo?”

Kihyun nods. The text he'd received just after eight comprised of a camera emoji accompanying the news that one of his photographs that had been hanging on the wall of the shop for almost four months had finally sold. “You managed to get rid of one.”

“Don’t say it like that, hyung.” Jooheon slips out from behind the counter and shuffles the sugar packets so that he can continue to chat to Kihyun. “I knew it would happen eventually, it’s a great photo.”

“You have so much faith in me.” Kihyun opens the lid and blows into the cup before he takes a drink. He appreciates it. Appreciates the smug grin that Jooheon uses when he nudges him and points to his other two works on the wall and says, "You'll be famous soon, hyung."

Kihyun wishes he had that much faith in his own work. “Did they say why they liked it, by the way?” He asks.

“I wasn’t in, it was sold on the late shift last night, so I didn’t get to make the sale myself.” Jooheon pouts.  “But I do know that they were super interested in the fact you’re a local artist.”

Kihyun smiles, despite himself. “That’s cool,” he says, and he means it.

 

\--

 

He stops by Fighter Juices afterwards because he knows Hoseok will be hurt if he finds out that Kihyun was in the area and didn’t pop by to see him. Kihyun would be flattered if only he didn’t have suspicions that Hoseok only encourages all of his friends to visit him as much as possible just so his cafe looks more popular (something he has yet to actually deny).

Kihyun keeps his coffee cup firmly in hand so that Hoseok can’t be tempted to force something healthy looking on him and sits down at the juice bar, unwinding his scarf and draping it over the back of his chair as he sits.

“Somethings changed with you.” Hoseok has narrowed eyes and there is a smile forming on his face when he comes over from the other side of the shop and leans over the counter to scrutinise Kihyun. 

Kihyun doesn’t like the sound of this. “What?”

“I know! He’s moved out, hasn’t he?” Hoseok clicks his tongue. “I knew it, that must bewhy you look so-- so _pleased_ with yourself.”

“Who’s moved out?” Kihyun doesn’t have a clue what Hoseok has determined from his mere presence in the shop.  

“The bane of your existence? Sex-life ruiner, general nuisance and hot neighbour… Ring any bells?” Hoseok stands up straight. “You never actually told me his name, which I’m actually quite offended about.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Oh. No, he hasn’t moved out.”

“Oh.” Hoseok goes back to leaning over the counter. “Well, something’s different.”

“Nothing is different.” Kihyun fiddles with lid on his coffee cup. “Although they did sell one of my pictures across the road.”

“Congratulations, Kihyunnie” Hoseok almost leaps across the counter to shake Kihyun’s shoulder. “Ah, so maybe that’s why you look so satisfied. And here I was thinking you’d finally had sex again.”

“I _do not_ look any different to usual.” Kihyun pulls a face. “Do I?”

“Well, you have this-- this _glow_ about you. Your aura is different and you’re…” Hoseok breaks off into a laugh and points to the skin now on show above Kihyun’s neckline where he’s removed his scarf. “I’m joking. You look exactly the same as usual, except you have a massive visible hickey right there. It’s kind of a giveaway.”

“What?” Kihyun strains his neck to try and view his own hickey, just about makes out a red mark on his neck before he gives up and looks back up. “It’s nothing. Ignore it.” He stares daggers of fire directly into Hose’s eyes and dares him to continue laughing at him.

They’ve known each other for a long time, well enough so that Hoseok knows just how far he can push Kihyun before he’ll actually be mean back to him, which, he learnt pretty early into their friendship, isn’t worth encouraging. Especially in his place of work, which is meant to be a place of serenity (or, so the board outside says). Kihyun guesses that this is what he’s thinking about when he relents.

“Fine.” Hoseok twists his mouth into a disappointed pout. “You can tell me why someone’s been sucking the life out of you through your neck on Saturday.”

Kihyun frowns. They haven’t made plans, and he’s about to say as much when Hoseok continues. “Because that's when I’m having a lock-in here. You should come. There'll be-” Hoseok counts off on his fingers:  “- Cool people, good music, liquor - or fresh smoothies for our teetotal friends. Ten PM ‘til late.”

“A lock-in at a smoothie bar?”

“Everyone’s doing it,” Hoseok says as if this is common knowledge. They probably are, it’s not like Kihyun gets out and about much with the city’s hipster crowd. He doesn’t get out and about much with other people at all. And he doesn’t like kale so he isn’t exactly a regular at any other juice establishments in the city. “Bring your camera if you want. And your new-- uh,  _friend_ , whoever they are.” He peers at Kihyun’s neck again.

“I might do. Bring my camera, I mean.” Kihyun gets down off the stool and winds his scarf back around his neck. He hopes he isn't blushing. “And I _don’t_ have any new friends.”

Hoseok doesn’t argue with him, he knows better than that, but Kihyun feels embarrassed all the way home regardless.

 

\--

 

Kihyun, high on the sale of one photograph, goes to the lock-in on Saturday with his camera in hand. He doesn't invite anyone else, friends or otherwise.

He swaps emails with a girl from a new start-up foodie website who is looking for photographers. He takes some photos of Hyungwon, one of Hoseok’s many exes, and some photos of Hyungwon's new boyfriend Changkyun, who is younger than everyone there and shorter than most, but is somehow also cooler than everyone at the same time. Kihyun is slightly jealous.

He has a few beers and even tries a drink that consists of vodka, kale and avocado juice, though he regrets it as soon as the concoction hits his throat. Jooheon laughs happily as he downs two of them and Kihyun snaps, in total, fifty six photos of the event, most of which turn out really well, considering the inadequate lighting.

When Kihyun gets home he’s feeling good, like tonight has been a success on a social level _and_ on a professional one. He shrugs off his jacket, looks up at the print above his bed and feels proud and _excited,_ and he’s not drunk exactly, but he’s not sober either. And then he’s knocking on the wall behind his bed, because he’s awake and he’s happy and... It just feels right to.

When Kihyun gets no response from the other side of the wall he knocks again, a little harder this time. And then once more.

“Is everything okay?” Minhyuk is at his door within minutes after Kihyun’s third attempt, but he doesn’t look like he’s about to fuck anyone senseless. He just looks tired, and his eyes are kind of blank, and this is when Kihyun realises that it’s the middle of the night. Remembers that not everyone has been out and that he was just _expecting_ Minhyuk to be there, awake, at his beck and call, to have sex with him because he _felt_ like it. There’s an awful feeling in Kihyun’s chest and it feels something like guilt.

“Yeah, everything is great. I just thought that maybe…” It doesn’t feel right to say it, so he trails off. Asks, “Were you sleeping?” instead.

Minhyuk smiles, eyes closing for a long time as if he is struggling to stay awake. “Yeah, what time is it?” He yawns, not even bothering to cover his mouth.

“I don’t know. It’s late, though,” Kihyun says. “I’ll come back another time. Sorry, you should sleep.”

“Why are you-- oh, wait were you _signal_ knocking _?_ And I didn’t hear?” Minhyuk rubs at his left eye with a closed fist like an over-tired toddler would, and Kihyun wants to think that it serves him right that _he’s_ been the one woken up in the middle of the night this time, because Minhyuk does owe him big time. Minhyuk who has woken him up in the middle of the night for pointless reasons on countless occasions. Minhyuk who woke him up to suggest they _start_ this arrangement in the first place.

Kihyun wants to think that it serves Minhyuk right but instead he just feels entitled and selfish and stupid. It’s a new feeling, especially where Minhyuk is involved. Minhyuk, who standing in front of him all dazed and confused and still so annoyingly enthusiastic even when his brain is clearly not quite on, as he runs a hand through his hand and says, “If you give me, like, ten minutes, maybe I could come over and-”

“No, no. I didn’t knock,” Kihyun lies. “I just needed, um, those matches you borrowed a while back. Could I have them back now?”

Minhyuk nods slowly, processing the request. “Oh, okay. Sure. Just- just give me a minute to remember where I put them.”

Kihyun wonders if it’s as obvious as he thinks it is that he’s grasped this excuse right out of thin air. Maybe if Minhyuk wasn’t half asleep it would be, but he is. He should be in bed, his own bed, not wracking his brains for where a box of matches Kihyun doesn’t need is. Kihyun has three full boxes ten metres away in his own kitchen. Kihyun is always prepared. 

Kihyun watches as Minhyuk rubs at the back of his neck, mouth slack, brain almost audibly ticking. Finally he says, “If I’ve lost them, you can call me names, okay?”

This just makes Kihyun feel worse.

“You know what?” He says. “It’s fine, I don’t-- I remembered I don’t need them. I’ll get them another time.”

Minhyuk shakes his head. “No, I need to give them back anyway and they have to be inside somewhere. You obviously need them back, so I’ll--.”

“No, no, it’s cool.” Kihyun waves a hand. “I’ll just get them tomorrow.”

“Whatever. You look good, by the way.” Minhyuk goes back to leaning against the doorframe, rests his head on the wall. “Have you been somewhere fun?”

“Just a party,” Kihyun replies. He suddenly feels self-conscious, but he knows he really shouldn’t since he definitely looks a hell of a lot more put together than his neighbour does right now.

Minhyuk yawns again, his mouth opening wide and eyes closing and it makes Kihyun think about the same mouth doing other things.

“Didn’t you meet any hot strangers to bring back home tonight?” Minhyuk asks.

And Kihyun realises that meeting hot strangers hadn’t even crossed his mind at all that evening, and it usually would be up there at the forefront of it, along with furthering his career and spacing his drinks out enough to not get wasted. At least he managed two out of three. “No one my type,” he replies, with a disinterested shrug.  

“Didn’t think that usually stopped you.” Minhyuk smiles sleepily. “Unless your type is this really cool, nice, super handsome guy who you say mean things to when he’s fucking you.”

“My type is the antithesis of that.” Kihyun pulls a face. He doesn’t know what his type is, though. He isn’t sure if he has one. What’s a type, anyway? “My type would never, ever be that.”

“Shame.” Minhyuk pouts a little. His cheeks are tinged with pink and his hair is plastered to his forehead and sticking up out of a tuft behind his ear and he licks his stupid lips afterwards and Kihyun can’t stand it. “Because _my_ type is-”

“Goodnight, Minhyuk.” Kihyun cuts him off.

Minhyuk just laughs, low and raspy and tired, his eyes half-shut, and closes his door.

 

\--

 

When Kihyun nips out to check his mail the next morning, there is a box of matches - half empty but not completely finished - propped up against the wall outside of his apartment, along with a bag of cookies (open, but pretty full) and a note that says, ‘sorry’ written in some kind of thick glitter marker pen that no adult should own.

Kihyun thinks about knocking on Minhyuk’s door, but there’s always a chance that he’s gone back to bed after leaving the package and Kihyun still feels a little guilty about last night, so he walks straight to the elevator.

Kihyun takes the free pizza coupons he finds stuffed into his mailbox out and feeds them into Minhyuk’s box instead on his way out of the building as a silent apology for the night before. It’s not like Minhyuk will even realise who they’re from, anyway, which is good, because Kihyun wouldn’t want him to get the wrong impression and start to think that Kihyun might like him now.

Because he definitely doesn’t. At least, not much.

It's confusing. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 i'm so happy that people are enjoying this ;;; <333 thanks so much for the comments etc

When Kihyun next sees Minhyuk, he is standing in the lobby, frowning at his mail. He looks up when Kihyun approaches and waves his mail in front of his face. “ _More_ utility bills, can you believe it? I swear I paid for electricity like a month ago.”

“Yeah.” Kihyun stops in front of him. “That’s usually how it goes with bills…”

Minhyuk either ignores the snide comment or he doesn’t even notice it. He just sighs wistfully, and Kihyun has to admit that it’s kind of cute. “I wish I was an amazing photographer like you, I bet you’re raking in money,” he says.

Kihyun scoffs. If he didn't know Minhyuk better he might think he was making fun, but Kihyun can tell he is being sincere. It's flattering, really, that his neighbour - as ridiculous as he is - thinks he's highly paid for his work. If only. “I wish I was.”

“What? You make a bomb surely?” Minhyuk’s nose is scrunched up. “Like, you could take photographs for-- I don’t know, something super famous. Like, you could be a photographer for freakin’ _Vogue_.”

“I _could_.” Kihyun tries to sound blasé, but he isn’t sure he pulls it off. “But, uh, no. Definitely not working for Vogue, and definitely not rolling in money.”

“People just don’t know real talent when they see it,” Minhyuk says matter-of-factly and smiles brightly. “Except me, obviously. You know I’m only sleeping with you to get to look at that print above your bed, don’t you?”

“We didn’t even go in my bedroom last time,” Kihyun points out.

“Okay, you got me there.” Minhyuk shoves his the bill into his messenger bag and reaches back into his mailbox, retrieving one more letter and the re-homed coupons. “Huh? Ugh, another bill! Unbelievable. At least I got pizza coupons too.” He clutches them like they’re golden tickets. “There is  _always_ a silver lining, remember that, neighbour.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and says, “Are you suggesting that I don’t see the silver linings in things?”

“Yes.” Minhyuk nods. Adds, “Sorry about the matches, by the way. And the cookies. I-- I know you had it better  living here when my apartment was empty.”

He wears a lopsided smile, that Kihyun guesses is meant to say, _I know I’m annoying._  And usually Kihyun would feel glad, feel like it’s justified, because Minhyuk _is_ annoying, but today Kihyun just wants to ask him who made him feel like that, except he’s pretty sure the answer is him, so instead he just says, “I forgive you. This time, anyway.”

Minhyuk looks relieved and Kihyun feels that tug of guilt again. It’s annoying.

“Here.” Minhyuk holds out a coupon. “You should have one too. You can get 50% off a large pepperoni with this one!”

Kihyun doesn’t take the voucher.

 

\--

 

Kihyun almost misses the knocking on his bedroom wall over the sound of the television when Minhyuk tries to get his attention later that night and Kihyun has to scramble for the remote and mute the sound on the television, which he isn’t even watching, to be sure he heard anything.

It’s usually _him_ doing the knocking these days, which feels kind of weird to think about, especially considering how much energy he spent complaining to Hoseok about Minhyuk doing it before this arrangement began.

He knocks back, just once, to show he’s heard and then waits at his front door. Asks, “Are you okay?” when Minhyuk appears, a square, flat box in his arms.

“Of course I am.” Minhyuk grins. The hallway smells of baked cheese. “I have free pizza. Want to share?”

“Oh, right.” Kihyun is secretly happy the vouchers have been put to good use. “I’ve actually already eaten.”

Minhyuk tuts, but he doesn’t look too sad about losing a slice of his large pepperoni. “What are you up to?” He asks as he peers around Kihyun’s head and into the apartment. “Maybe we could hang out?”

This is new.

Minhyuk is at Kihyun's door a hell of a lot, but always _for_ something - to borrow his rice cooker, to be reminded of which day the recycling is picked up or, more recently, to get him naked. They don’t hang out. Hanging out isn't something Kihyun does with his neighbours and especially not with this one.

What is also unusual is that Kihyun finds that he is almost tempted to say _yes_. This is new too and, quite frankly, it’s weird.

He isn't sure he likes it.

He says, “I’m actually working on my portfolio for a magazine submission right now,” and Minhyuk’s eyes immediately light up. He’s so easily impressed; Kihyun wonders what he could say that _wouldn’t_ surprise him.

“Submission… For Vogue?”

Kihyun smiles. “No, not for Vogue. Haven’t we established I’m struggling and underappreciated?”

“Well, just so you know, I’ve no other plans for tonight, so if you get bored just knock.”

“I’ll consider it,” Kihyun says, but he's already thinking about Minhyuk's stupid mouth and deep down he knows that as soon as he hits send on his portfolio he’s going to be knocking on the wall.

He kind of wishes he wasn’t becoming so predictable, and about Lee Minhyuk no less.

 

-

 

The first thing that Minhyuk says when he bustles inside of Kihyun’s apartment three hours later, kicking off his shoes and leaving them in the middle of the hallway floor, is, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Kihyun mutters and kicks the shoes out of the way. 

“Do you ever take photos of your dick with your super fancy, expensive camera? All high definition?”

“What? No! My camera is my _baby_.”

“Well, you should try it sometime. I bet your cock would look pretty up on a canvas.” Minhyuk pulls his hoodie off over his head and Kihyun holds his hand out to take it. It’s easier than waiting to pick it up off the floor.

“I don’t think I’d be allowed to display that in public,” Kihyun points out as he drapes the hoodie over the back of a chair. “But thanks for the great suggestion.”

“You don’t mean it.” Minhyuk reaches out and immeditaely works at undoing the buttons on Kihyun’s jeans and the touch of his hands on Kihyun’s skin makes his breath hitch in throat at the anticipation. It’s getting difficult to tell his body that this is just a consolation fuck with his annoying neighbour. It doesn’t feel like a consolation, his heart is racing and there’s a heat low in his belly and he realises that he’s been looking forward to this _a lot_ since the last time it happened.

“Of course I don’t mean it,” he says as Minhyuk undoes the last button and frowns. They haven't even kissed yet and Kihyun wonders for a moment if it's because Minhyuk doesn't think Kihyun would want to. Should he want to? Kihyun isn't sure what he wants or what he's meant to want, because this arrangement is _i_ nsane _._ “It’s a stupid suggestion.”

"Not pink," Minhyuk says as he takes hold of Kihyun’s wrist. “Wasn't _this_ a stupid suggestion?” He asks as he leads Kihyun into his own bedroom.

For a minute, Kihyun wonders whether it’s just to look at the print above his bed, but then he’s on his back and Minhyuk is looking down at him, those stupid lips of his  quirked into the most annoying smirk.

“It still is,” Kihyun replies, indignant.

Minhyuk just laughs at this response. “You’re mean. So, what am I paying you back for tonight?”

“Does it matter?”

Minhyuk nods. He looks so earnest. “Of course it does. You said I cockblocked you five different times, so they better exist.” He tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. “Or I might just think you lied to get me to do this on a semi regular basis.”

“This was _your_ idea.” Kihyun pushes at Minhyuk’s chest with a pointed finger. “And I said _at least_ five times. There were lots of times.”

Minhyuk laughs and rolls over onto his back, lying on the bed next to Kihyun. “Maybe this time can be in payment for the night I came over to borrow your rice cooker and walked in on you trying to fuck some English guy in the shower.”

“The time you saw me in the towel!” Kihyun leans up onto his elbows and grins down at Minhyuk. He'd almost forgotten that it was when he was kind-of-not-really seeing the British media intern (for various reasons - one being that he had a hot accent and another being that he had connections to people that might be interested in Kihyun's portfolio) at the beginning of Summer that Minhyuk had barged into his place in a blind panic, saying something about being so hungry it hurt.

Kihyun had hastily jumped out of the shower, water still running off his face and had bundled his rice cooker into Minhyuk's arms and all but shoved him out of the door. When he'd returned to the bathroom, his prospective lay was wearing a lazy smile and there was come on the shower screen and Kihyun had missed the fun.

"You were so angry with me the next day." Minhyuk grins.

"Yeah, well, thanks to you, he just came without me and went back to his place." Kihyun is getting angry just thinking about it. "It was _not_ a fun night."

"Well, I had a great night. I got to eat my bodyweight in rice. And see you in a towel!”

"Lucky you." Kihyun pushes himself up and stands. "I've decided I’m going to take a shower.”

“What?" Minhyuk frowns. "Aren't we in the middle of something?"

Kihyun ignores the question. He's made his mind up on this and it's a damn good idea, so he's going with it. "I'm going to shower and then I'm going to come back out here in a towel. If you liked it that much the first time, you can make up for ruining that night by being really, _really_ appreciative of it this time round.”

“How am I going to show my appreciation?” Minhyuk asks, and, really, the way that he just goes along with what Kihyun wants to do turns Kihyun on so much more than he ever realised it would. He's always been a bossy person - it's probably, Hoseok used to say, why he chose one of the few careers where he'd get to be his own boss - but when it's come to hook ups and dates Kihyun usually finds himself eager to please. And eager to please doesn't come naturally to him.

It's cloying. It doesn't feel right.

What does feel right is knowing that there is someone (admittedly) super hot, who is both ready and willing to let you come first, even if he is infuriating during and after the whole endeavour.

“By telling me how hot I am and begging for me to fuck you, thats how you'll show it," Kihyun replies, and leaves Minhyuk to contemplate this in a rare moment of silence.

The silence never lasts, of course. Not with Minhyuk. “At any point do we get to take photos of our dicks?” He calls through the open bedroom door as Kihyun heads towards the bathroom.

“No!" Kihyun shouts back, shuts the door to the bathroom and wonders, just for a moment, what he’s been doing all of his life without including any bickering in his foreplay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to leave the chapter before all of the clothes came off, but if I don't post something tonight it'll be another week, so apologies for the shortish chapter. Clothes all off next chapter!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait! this is basically just porn. apologies/ you're welcome <3

Kihyun hovers in the doorway. He doesn’t look that great in a towel. He checked in the mirror, turned this way and that way and he's thinking that maybe Minhyuk’s misremembered. Maybe it was someone else that he found hot in a towel one time when he went round to borrow their rice cooker.

Probably not, though. It _is_ quite a specific scenario.

The thing is that, even if Kihyun does know that he’s well above average in terms of most things: his face, his intelligence, his cooking skills, he just really isn’t sure if he looks that great naked.

The first time they’d done this, he’d hardly been undressed at all, and last time - well, he had been naked, yeah, but not before Minhyuk. That made it different, somehow.

Minhyuk isn’t naked, now. He’s not even paying any attention to Kihyun. He’s standing on Kihyun’s bed, facing the wall. Or, more specifically, facing the print. Kihyun clears his throat until minhyuk turns around.

“How did you get the balloons to look so bright in that lighting?” Minhyuk asks as he turns back. He tilts his head a little, stares at Kihyun as he waits for the answer. He doesn’t mention the fact Kihyun’s back from the shower, in just a towel. He doesn’t seem to care about that.

“What?”

“Like, the colours are so-- you know.” Minhyuk waves his arms around as if this might make Kihyun understand. “But the sky is so dark!”

Kihyun crosses his arms over his chest. He feels very naked, which would be okay if it was the focus of the conversation, but Minhyuk is asking unfinished questions about his print and Kihyun isn’t best pleased. “Look, I don’t know what you’re asking, but the answer is probably because I’m damn good at what I do.”

“Probably.” Minhyuk smiles. “Sorry, it’s just I don’t know any other photographers and it’s so interesting, because-”

Kihyun grits his teeth and interrupts. “Will you just come here.”

Minhyuk steps down from the bed, wobbling just a little as he lands on the floor, but he continues to talk as he crosses the room. “ Okay. But how did you get the balloons to-”

“ _Minhyuk._ ”

“Yes?” Minhyuk stops in front of him. Finally, he’s listening.

“Stop asking me annoying questions.”

And he does, because then he leans forward until their mouths meet and they kiss open mouthed and hungry, Minhyuk’s hand splayed at Kihyun’s waist, just above the towel. “You look even better than last time,” he says as they pull apart for a moment.

Oh, so he _did_ notice, Kihyun thinks. Good.

“Maybe it’s because I’m less angry at you this time, since you aren’t ruining my night for once.”

“No, you’re _always_ angry at me.” Minhyuk points out. “You just look-- you look really good.”

Kihyun says, “Whatever,” as his heart beats out of his chest and, maybe he ran the shower too hot because he’s feeling weird - a little light headed. Happy. Like it matters that Minhyuk really does like him.

Minhyuk smiles, all bright and blinding, tugs his sweater over his head and pulls Kihyun back in close, kissing him harder and licking into his mouth. He tastes like sour apple candy and Kihyun wonders for a moment whether that box of candies that disappeared two weeks before ended up in Minhyuk’s apartment, a flash of annoyance rising, overiding the disconcerting feeling of pure, unbridled happiness that was trying to take over.

He forgets about the candies when Minhyuk bites at his bottom lip, tugs gently with his teeth until Kihyun stands on his foot, pressing down hard until Minhyuk pulls back with a frown. “I know I’m irresistible but I don’t want to have to explain a bust lip to my friends," Kihyun grumbles.

Minhyuk sighs and mumbles something that might be, “No fun,” but Kihyun can’t be sure.

He nudges his camera box as far under his desk as possible as they get onto the bed says “Take the rest of your clothes off,” to distract Minhyuk from realising it’s there. Minhyuk obliges, strips out of his jeans and underwear and licks at his lips with a grin. “I know you’re hiding the camera from me so I don’t get any ideas.”

“You have ideas in that thing?” He taps the side of Minhyuk’s head.

“Yes. Good ones, like this.” Minhyuk leans back against the pillows on Kihyun’s bed and bends his knees up to his chest. “Do you disagree?”

“No.” Kihyun pushes his knees further apart, further back until his long legs are folded obscenely up against his stomach. “I admit this was not-- well, it wasn't the _worst_ idea you've had.”

Minhyuk’s hair is in his eyes, but he doesn’t move his hands from where they’re tucked around the back of his knees to keep his legs apart. Instead he just shakes his head and blows up into his fringe until his hair moves. “You admit it?”  He grins as he asks it.

Kihyun just says, “Don’t get used to it,” because, honestly, he can hardly believe he’s admitting it himself. Then he kneels up and flicks open the bottle of lube that he had only managed to find down the back of the couch four days after the last time they used it. He coats his fingers in the liquid, until they’re sticky and wet, and when he looks down at Minhyuk, his eyes are closed and his eyebrows are pulled in tight, as though he’s nervous.

“You-- Wait, you’ve done it like this before right?” Kihyun asks, just in case. Just because Minhyuk is willing to do something, Kihyun knows, doesn’t mean he has any experience. He remembers the time that Minhyuk offered to look after apartment 502’s plants when they were away for the holidays. He was full of enthusiasm, but this didn’t stop the plants from dying within two weeks. Minhyuk just _does_ things without thought.

“Yes.” Minhyuk’s eyes open. “Mainly by myself these days.”

Kihyun pulls a face. He doesn’t need that image. Mainly because it’s actually very hot and Kihyun is still trying to deny that Minhyuk really is his hot neighbour. Hoseok can’t be right.

Minhyuk says, “I’m just thinking about how cold your fingers are gonna be.” He shudders.

Of course. He isn’t nervous, he’s just a ridiculous person.

“I have warm hands, actually, don’t worry.” Kihyun grins, presses the pads of two fingers against Minhyuk’s rim. His hands are not warm.

Minhyuk breathes in sharply. “You liar.”

Kihyun laughs and says, “You deserve it.”

He slides one finger inside slowly and enjoys the way that Minhyuk’s mouth falls open as he moves it back out again slowly. Minhyuk lies there, squirming a little, trying not to. And he’s so quiet and his mouth is slack and his eyes are close, and it’s  _satisfying_.

“So this is how we shut you up,” Kihyun says, breaking the silence. His tongue feels thick in his mouth, like he’s forgotten how to talk, and even though the words are meant to sound like an insult, they sound more like wonderment when they leave his mouth.

If Minhyuk notices, he doesn’t react, just murmurs, “Yeah. More.”

Kihyun adds a second finger, slides it in fast, drags it out slowly. He does this a few times, all the way out, and that adds a third, upping the speed at which he fucks Minhyuk with his fingers over and over again.

Minhyuk’s cock is leaking pre-come onto his stomach and his legs are shaking a little, and Kihyun’s so hard under the towel; he almost feels hypnotised, unable to drag his gaze away from watching his fingers slide into Minhyuk’s ass, listening to the tiny gasps of breath and the whine he lets out when Kihyun curves two of the fingers inside him up and pushes until he groans.

“Come on, please fuck me now,” Minhyuk says, suddenly, and for a second Kihyun can’t remember how to compute the sounds, still so focused on Minhyuk’s ass and legs and the way that his fingers are so, so deep inside of him.

“What?”

“ _Fuck me._  That’s-- that’s what I’m meant to say, right? I’m begging you to fuck me like you told me to.” His voice is low and desperate, and it does magical things to Kihyun’s cock.

“Oh. yeah. I did say that.” Kihyun removes his fingers and flexes them, ripping open the condom packet with trembling fingers.

He squeezes more lube out onto his hand, then, and drips it all over the bed in the process. He’s going to regret that later when he needs to sleep in this bed, he thinks, but it doesn’t seem to matter because Kihyun just wants to feel Minhyuk around him so badly. Or, wants to feel anyone. At least that’s what he’s telling himself. He doesn’t just want Minhyuk, it's just that Minhyuk is  _here_ , he's convenient. Doing him a favour.

Except Kihyun's got that light-headed feeling again, the one that makes him wonder if Minhyuk will sleep over afterwards. Even if he’s probably the most irritating sleeper in the entire world.

Kihyun wraps his hand around his cock and moves closer, lines himself up and takes a long, deep breath as he pushes inside. He hasn’t fucked anyone in so long. His last few dates, the successful ones at least, wanted to fuck him. Which is okay, because he likes it. A lot. And maybe it’s because he’s short or maybe because he keeps trying to hook up with all these big guys who want to treat him like some precious doll - and Kihyun appreciates broad backs and the kind of biceps that could crush you, but-- but maybe he doesn’t, really. Maybe he likes tall and slim and toned and totally under his skin, instead. 

So, maybe it’s because of these things, or maybe there isn’t any reason for it at all, but he hasn’t been inside anyone in forever and now he is, Kihyun’s vision is blurry and his pulse is racing and as he cants his hips and bottoms out fireworks go off underneath his skin and he almost chokes out a sob. He holds his breath, hopes his cheeks aren’t as red as he thinks they probably are, because he’s practically on fire right now.

Minhyuk is so quiet underneath him and for a second Kihyun wonders if he’s bad at this, not that it matters, because this isn’t meant to be about Minhyuk, it’s meant to be about _him_ getting the sex he’s missed out on. That’s what they agreed. That’s the reason they’re even naked right now.

It feels like kind of a hollow reason.

Minhyuk shifts below him, then, his hands grasping at Kihyun’s waist. “More,” he says, and his eyes are half-open, his lips turned up into a lazy smile and he’s enjoying it, he’s definitely enjoying it. Kihyun continues to thrust his hips as Minhyuk’s nails dig into his skin, fucking into him as his skin burns and the blood is rushing through his head drowns out any of the sounds that Minhyuk is making now.

They’re probably annoying sounds though, and Kihyun tells him this out loud; he can’t help it, it comes out of his mouth and maybe it’s a bit mean but then Minhyuk is coming, and Kihyun is still fucking him, snapping his hips faster and faster until the familiar pooling heat in his groin builds and then he’s coming too, Minhyuk laughing softly as Kihyun rolls off him.

 

\--

 

When he can breathe again, Kihyun rubs his face with the heels of his hands and says, “You came when I insulted you again.”

“So what?” Minhyuk rolls onto his side lazily and smiles. “How did favour number three compare to the first two? Halfway through now.” He pouts, as if this is sad, or as if he’s pretending it’s sad. Kihyun can’t tell which and what scares him is that he doesn't like the idea of it not being genuine.

He isn't going to let on, so Kihyun just shrugs in response

Minhyuk is quiet for a moment and then asks, “Have you changed your mind yet? About the dick pics?”

“No.” Kihyun lies still, doesn’t even look at Minhyuk’s face. He’s still thinking about that fake sad face and the fact this is a five time deal, and worrying that he can’t do casual sex anymore. He doesn’t want to be worrying, he wants to enjoy the fucked out bliss.  Maybe he’ll be able to do that easier without Minhyuk talking his ear off, he thinks. Maybe Minhyuk should go. 

“I’m tired,” he says and waits for Minhyuk to get the hint and go.

Minhyuk gets the hint. “Me too. I’ll get going,” he replies and gets out of the bed, throwing on his clothes haphazardly. “Sleep well, neighbour,” he calls cheerily as he leaves.  
  
But even though he _is_ tired and he _is_ blissed out, he really is, Kihyun finds that he can’t sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hoseok is charming some of his regulars at the counter when Kihyun goes to visit him a few days later, so he waits at a table in the back, holds the juices menu up to his face for absolutely no reason (he knows it off by heart he helped Hoseok put it together and he doesn’t like most of it anyway), and waits for a lull in customers.

Hoseok shouts “Large orange juice for Kihyun,” even though he hasn’t ordered anything, and Kihyun makes his way towards the counter. “How much do I owe you for the drink I didn't order?”

Hoseok waves off Kihyun’s attempt to hand over any cash (as half hearted as it may be) and says, “You can pay me in good conversation.”

Kihyun groans. He has a pretty good idea of what Hoseok wants to talk about. Ever since the love-bite incident (which he made sure to scold Minhyuk for the next time he saw him, not that Minhyuk seemed to take any notice at all), Hoseok has been trying to ween information from him. And, usually, Kihyun would talk (or boast, maybe) about his love-life, but after how much energy he’s spent complaining about Minhyuk in this very shop, for all the time he’s denied being able to stand his presence at all, and for all the refusing to accept that Minhyuk is in any way actually _attractive_ , he just... Can’t. He has pride and he wants to keep it, even if it’s just in the eyes of one of his oldest friends.   

“Do I have to?”

“Humour me,” Hoseok says. “What have you been up to this week?"

Okay, this question isn’t too difficult. "Not much. Got my portfolio sent off to a few websites. Emailed some people from the party…” Kihyun sips his drink. “I  had a job last night, photographing the most boring black tie event ever. They didn’t even give me free drinks. But a job is a job.’

“Well, if you ever want a shift here...”

Kihyun shakes his head, quickly. “Thank you, but I’m- I’m still getting by.”

It’s not a lie exactly - he _is_ just about managing to cope with all of his financial outgoings, but his bank account _would_ appreciate it if he took on some side work. It’s just that, to be honest, Kihyun is scared. He’s scared that if he takes a few shifts at Fighter Juices, a few will become a lot and he’ll end up a regular member of staff. And then-- well, then he’ll have to face the fact that he isn’t an established photographer. Not in the way he wanted to be.

And Kihyun doesn’t want to have to face that.

Hoseok changes the subject to one he has clearly been itching to bring up in person since Kihyun stepped foot in the shop. He's certainly tried enough times via social media over the last week, each time in vain. Kihyun is good at avoiding texts. “Any new love-bites to hide?” He asks, scrutinising Kihyun’s neck.

“No.” Kihyun brings his hand to his neck self-consciously and plays with the neck-line of his sweater, just in case any have magically appeared. “Nothing to hide.”

Hoseok pretends to be cleaning the counter as he says, “And am I going to hear about the person who gave them to you?”

Kihyun huffs out a breath. “I knew you had an agenda when you asked me to talk,” he says.

They’ve talked about this stuff countless times before, but somehow this time is different. This time Kihyun does _not_ want to talk about the fact he’s sleeping with Hot Neighbour. And he definitely doesn’t want to admit that Hot Neighbour really is incredibly fucking hot _and_ actually can be kind of nice, for all of his annoying traits and failings as a practical home-owner.

“I didn’t have an agenda!” Hoseok laughs. “I’m just interested. Wouldn't it be weird if I wasn't?”

“I guess. Anyway, I’m just sleeping with, uh, someone. That’s all.” Kihyun purses his lips and looks down at his drink. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

When Kihyun looks up again, Hoseok has stopped wiping down the counter and he’s stood completely still, eyes wide. “ _Oh shit._ ”

“What?” Kihyun doesn’t know what he’s done to elicit this kind of response.

Hoseok grins. He looks incredibly smug. “Kihyunnie really likes this one.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“How long have we been friends? Ten years? And in all that time, I can’t ever remember you refusing to tell me about a guy.”

Kihyun pulls a face and says, "That isn’t true,” to which Hoseok mumbles something about lies before he gets pulled into a conversation with a paying customer.

Kihyun stays at the counter, drinks his orange juice quietly, and tries not to think about the fact that Hoseok is right. 

Again.

 

\--

 

There are more take-out coupons in Kihyun’s mailbox the next day, but that’s okay since he has a good use for them now.

He does it automatically these days: posts them into Minhyuk’s box on the row below. He really doesn’t think much of it; decides that it’s simply an alternative to throwing them in the trash. Except there is a trash can by his feet and it’s actually quite an effort to try to fit the coupons into Minhyuk’s overflowing mailbox.

Kihyun is trying not to dwell on this fact when he senses someone approaching, and then Minhyuk is peering over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

Kihyun feels his body tense up. Minhyuk is want and he's right there and Kihyun can’t think straight when he’s this close. “Nothing."

Minhyuk steps back, and Kihyun almost sighs with relief. “Are you feeding all of your junk mail into my-” Minhyuk pauses as he clearly spots the red and yellow logo of Pizza Slice Co on the top of the coupon. “Oh! Well, thanks. That's nice of you.”

“It’s not like I'm going to use them, I can actually cook.” Kihyun gives up trying to get them into the mailbox and turns around to give them to Minhyuk instead. He feels embarrassed, like he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t be. Being nice to someone he doesn’t want to be nice to, maybe. He gestures to the cardboard box in Minhyuk’s arms. “Where are you headed?”

Minhyuk looks at the box as if he’d forgotten he was even carrying it and then replies, “I’m going down to the basement to do some recycling.”

He makes it sound like an adventure and not a normal domestic chore, and Kihyun is concerned. “You know you can’t mix brown and clear glass bottles, don’t you?”

Minhyuk just looks at him as if he’s speaking an alien language. Kihyun takes a breath. “I’ll come with you then.”

Kihyun leads the way towards the elevators and tells himself that he has only suggested this in fear for the state of their building’s recycling room and not because he’d want to spend any more time with his neighbour than he would care to admit. Sure, the sex _is_ good and Minhyuk is charming and eager to please, plus he looks really good with his legs spread, but he’s still the same Minhyuk that Kihyun has never actually liked to have to live next door to. That hasn’t changed.

Not much, anyway.

“ _I_ can cook, you know,” Minhyuk says as the elevator doors close. He amends his response about two seconds later. “ _Well_ , I can heat things up and am known to be pretty skilled at chopping vegetables.”

Kihyun says, “I don’t want to picture you with a knife.”

Minhyuk laughs and throws a sideways glance at Kihyun. “Too sexy an image?”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. Too _dangerous_. My countertop is marble and I take pride in it being mark free.”

“I’m good with my hands, I reckon I could be gentle if the marble wanted me to.” He grins. “You’re not exactly a stranger to these hands, don’t pretend.”

“Hmmm. They’re okay, I guess.” Kihyun tries not to think about how handsy Minhyuk can be. Tries not to think about how Minhyuk’s hand feels wrapped around the base of his cock or the comfortable weight of his palm against Kihyun’s bare hip when they’re kissing.

He fails, but Minhyuk doesn’t notice, just pushes on and says, “I really can chop vegetables, you know. If you ever needed help cooking, I could come over.” He smiles and nods as though the act of nodding will somehow strengthen his argument.

It probably works on some people. Hell, it could probably work on Kihyun if he let it.

(Which he won’t.)

The elevator doors open on basement level and Kihyun doesn’t wait for Minhyuk to step out first. Says, “Let me guess - you’re hungry and you have no food in right now, so you want to exploit the contents of my fridge?”

Minhyuk’s smile falters. “I don’t want to _exploit_ anything. I just thought you might want some company.”

“I don’t want you using my expensive knife set. And I don’t want company, especially not yours.” Kihyun holds the door the recycling room open when they get there but he won’t look Minhyuk in the eye, because if he does he _will_ want the company that is being offered to him. Or he’ll want it more than he already does. He already wants it, he knows, deep down, that he does.

It’s just so hard to admit it, especially to himself. It’s easier to deny; most things are, Kihyun has been finding lately. Denying that his career isn’t going where he hoped it would, denying attraction to the irritating neighbour that shows up at inopportune times. Denying that attraction can grow into something-- more.

Kihyun isn’t sure what this says about him, but its okay, because he can just deny that it means anything, and then it feels normal.

“Right. Fine, then,” Minhyuk says as he sets down the box of bottles, and part of Kihyun is suddenly scared that he’s gone too far - that what he said was too callous. And part of him is pretending not to care at all, but even that part of him does, really, and he wonders if he should say something else, and what it should be.

It’s okay, though, because Minhyuk does it first by sticking his tongue in his cheek as he stands up, looking Kihyun up and down and saying, “Now, can you actually reach the top of the recycling cans or do you need me to lift you up?”

And Kihyun would be offended, normally, but today he’s just relieved that Minhyuk is still grinning. “Fuck you,” he says, and stands up as tall as he can on his tiptoes to help feed bottles into the recycling can.

 

\--

 

Time flies when you’re editing photos.

It’s dark by the time that Kihyun looks up from his laptop later. He blinks into the twilight of his apartment, puts his laptop down next to him and gets up to turn on a light. He feels the rumble of his empty stomach as he does, and figures it’s probably after eight by now and that he should probably make the dinner that Minhyuk offered to help him with.

Minhyuk.

Kihyun still feels guilty for his harsh words earlier in the recycling room: the ones that he was trying so hard to actually mean. The ones that clearly hurt his neighbour, even if he smiled brightly and went straight back to playing around once they had been said.

Sometimes, Kihyun wishes he could think less before he speaks. Some people (Minhyuk) don’t think at all, they blurt out insensitive things without realising and get scolded for not thinking about their words properly. The problem Kihyun has, he’s come to realise, is that he thinks too much. He takes what he wants to say and twists it up into something meaner. Thinks about the best way to make completely clear that he doesn’t like Minhyuk.

And, honestly? Kihyun knows that if he doesn’t think so hard before he speaks - if he’s impulsive and careless - the words out of his mouth will betray him, and make him into someone he’s scared to be. Someone who wants to be liked, to be loved. Someone who likes spending time with the one person he’s spent six months feeling irrationally wound up by.

He feels guilty, and his stomach is growling, and he thinks a little, but not too much, before he steps outside of his apartment and knocks on Minhyuk’s door.

Minhyuk is bleary eyed and dishevelled when he opens his door, but he looks happy to see him, which gives Kihyun a weird feeling of joy. He gets straight to the point and says, “I need some onions and mushrooms chopping.”

Minhyuk’s eyebrows furrow in the middle, like he’s trying to piece the sounds together to make words.

Kihyun knows he doesn’t have a lot of time before Minhyuk will realise that Kihyun is going back on his words and will inevitably come out with some cocky remark about winning Kihyun over as always. And then maybe he’ll lick his lips absentmindedly and turn Kihyun’s mind to jelly. So, before this can happen, Kihyun reaches out and grabs Minhyuk’s wrist, pulling him out of his apartment. “Come on, you need to wash your hands first.”

Minhyuk replies, “Yes, Chef,” and allows himself to be lead into the apartment next door.

“As soon as he is let loose in Kihyun’s kitchen, he's awake. "Ooh, what’s this?” He picks up a garlic crusher after he dries his hands.

“Not something you need.” Kihyun takes the tool and places it back down, putting his hand at Minhyuk’s elbow to nudge him in the right direction for the chopping board Kihyun's already laid out with the vegetables next to it. “The onion needs to be _very_ finely diced, got it?”

Minhyuk looks over his shoulder from his place at the workstation. “Do I get to eat this afterwards?”

Kihyun nods. “Turns out I bought too many fresh ingredients,” he lies. They could have done him two meals, now they’re only going to last one.

Minhyuk smiles and Kihyun pretends that he still isn’t sure why he’s invited Minhyuk over to cook with him and eat half of the groceries he carried home in a paper bag in the rain the day before. 

“With you?” 

“That depends how much you annoy me in the next twenty minutes,” Kihyun replies. “So stop talking and start chopping.”

For a few minutes they work in silence; only the rhythmic snap of the knife against the chopping board and then the hiss of oil in a hot pan accompanies them. Kihyun checks on Minhyuk’s knife work a few times and the marble does seem to be safe, so Kihyun lets him continue.

He _is_ good with his hands, and Kihyun almost tells him. But he thinks too much first, and can’t bring himself to say it. Holds his tongue, instead.

Minhyuk’s tongue is looser and it isn’t long before he apparently can’t resist more questions. “I was thinking about our arrangement,” he begins.

Kihyun turns up the heat on the stove and calls over the sizzling of the beef he has just added to the pan. “What about it?”

“How many times did we agree on-- doing it?” Minhyuk asks. He has his back to Kihyun, across the kitchen. “Sleeping together, I mean,” he adds unnecessary.

“Five,” Kihyun replies, but the kitchen is loud now and Minhyuk doesn’t hear.

“What did you say?”

“I can’t remember,” Kihyun says this time, because he thinks less, or maybe he thinks more. Maybe he isn’t engaging his brain _at all_ when he says, a little more loudly, “Was it six?”

It wasn’t six and Kihyun is pretty damn certain they both know it.

“Maybe, yeah.” Minhyuk is at his shoulder now. He slides the vegetables off the chopping board and into the pan with the meat. “Or was it five?”

“I said I can’t remember,” Kihyun snaps, because he can and it was and he doesn’t know why he’s lying to prolong this-- this _thing_ between them.

Minhyuk glances at him and says, “Well, we better make it six then, just to be sure I’ve made up for all those terrible interruptions.”

“Whatever,” Kihyun replies, refusing to look at Minhyuk. “There’s beer in the fridge, get some out, this’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

“Yes, Chef!” Minhyuk salutes him, which doesn’t even make sense, and Kihyun’s heart is racing and his cheeks are burning, and Minhyuk is pulling all of the wrong things out of his fridge in an attempt to find the beer, but Kihyun is glad for the company, after all.

He just wishes that he could admit it to himself. Or to Minhyuk. Either would do, but neither seem to come easily.


	8. Chapter 8

Kihyun sends Minhyuk home with the leftovers from dinner packed neatly into two clean take-out boxes. “You better clean those before you give me them back,” he says as he places them into Minhyuk’s hands.

Minhyuk looks between the boxes and Kihyun’s face. “I have to give them back?”

Kihyun just stares at him, stony faced and increasingly tempted to take the boxes right back off him.

“I’m joking, I’m joking! Clean them, give them back. Got it.” Minhyuk grins. “You know, I think this has been the most time we’ve ever spent together.”

Kihyun is acutely aware of this. Of this and the fact it’s been one of the nicest Sunday afternoons he has spent (alone or otherwise) in a worryingly long time.

He shrugs. “Maybe if you didn’t always come as soon as I call you names we could spend longer together.”

Minhyuk whines. “Low blow, neighbour.”

Kihyun sucks in a breath and says, “I’m not, uh, complaining about it, I guess.” He knows his ears have gone red, and he hates it, but at least he’s deflected from the fact he’s being mean. Again.

Minhyuk makes a show of twisting his mouth up in mock-thought and says, “I can’t tell if you’re embarrassed because you’re talking about us fucking or if it’s because you’ve just had to admit you actually find it hot that I have kinks you didn’t know existed.”

“I didn’t _have_ to admit anything,” Kihyun points out.

“True.” Minhyuk smiles, and Kihyun feels such intense relief that Minhyuk doesn't seem to be hurt by his recurring defence mechanism (which is being meaner than he wants to be, apparently) that he thinks he might have to sit down for a while.

Minhyuk pauses in the doorway and adds, “Thanks for the leftovers,” before he leaves, to which Kihyun nods silently, ears still burning, and then he shuts the door with haste and lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

 

\--

 

The most of the next few days go by fairly Minhyuk free for Kihyun, aside from when his neighbour drops by midweek to return the takeout boxes. One of them has a dry piece of mushroom stuck to the lid.

“I hope this isn’t your definition of clean.” Kihyun tuts as he inspects it and prods at the pice of food with disgust.

“It’s my definition of ‘I ran out of dish-washing soap’. Sorry. Next time I'll make sure it's spotless.” Minhyuk runs his hand up and down the doorframe idly. Kihyun notes from this remark that Minhyuk is expecting there to be a next time to their little domesticated afternoon.

Minhyuk wets his lips, still all over the doorframe, casually lounging in the most annoying way. “What are you up to?”

“Why? Are you waiting for me to invite you in?” Kihyun asks.

“Are you going to?” Minhyuk bites at his bottom lip. “You know, I could suck you off again.”

Kihyun coughs into his hand as the elevator doors open and the elderly couple from 508 shuffle out. “I’m leaving the apartment in four minutes.”

Minhyuk bows his head at their much quieter neighbours before turning back to Kihyun with a dangerous grin. “Four minutes? That sounds like a challenge.”

“It’s not,” Kihyun replies. The response doesn't surprise him - nothing does where Minhyuk is concerned, not anymore - but it still makes him feel uncomfortably hot around the collar.

If Minhyuk notices Kihyun’s flushed skin, he doesn't say so, just puffs up his cheeks and blows out air like a petulant toddler who isn’t getting their way. “Fine. Who you going out with?”

Kihyun says, “No one you know,” even though he has no idea whether Minhyuk knows Hoseok or Jooheon at all. Knowing Minhyuk's open personality and his friends' inability to serve a customer coffee or juice without bevoking best friends, Kihyun wouldn’t be the smallest bit surprised to find out that Minhyuk knows them at least in passing. 

It’s one of the reasons Annoying Neighbour remains nameless in his conversations with his friends, and why he will continue to do so. This thing between them has an expiry date, anyway. It's a casual agreement. At least, that's all it's meant to be, but now kihyun has cooked him dinner and sent him home with the leftovers, which felt weirdly intimate to do. Considering the other things they do together, leftovers should not feel intimate. But it does. Kihyun is avoiding thinking about this.

He really does need to be at the restaurant in five minutes, and Minhyuk is splaying his hand over the doorframe the way he Kihyun’s hip when they kiss, and it's distracting.

“Now I only have two minutes,” Kihyun says and removes Minhyuk’s hand from the doorframe by poking it with his index finger until Minhyuk retracts it. “Thank you for returning something to me for once in your life.”

“You’re very welcome.” Minhyuk allows Kihyun to manhandle his limbs out of the doorway, with only the tiniest of smirks. It’s infuriating. What is even more infuriating, though, is the subtle way that his smirk melts into a genuinely warm smile that somehow makes Kihyun feel even hotter than before.

“Have fun, neighbour,” Minhyuk says as he finally removes himself from Kihyun’s space. “I want to see those shoulders nice and relaxed next time I come over, ‘kay?”

And Kihyun knows it's a little bit of a dig at his highly strung nature, but at the same time, it's the most sincere concern anyone has voiced for him in practically forever.

He says, “Yeah, thanks,” and begins to shut the door, looks looks down at the empty takeout container in his hand and stops before the door is completely closed. Maybe there _should_ be a next time; maybe Minhyuk deserves the chance to redeem himself in the pot washing department after all, and maybe it won't hurt to actually extend a real invitation to someone for once. To Minhyuk.

He pulls the door back open a little and calls out, “By the way, if you’re around at the weekend would you--”

“Keep the noise down because you’re up early to photograph a wedding on Saturday. You already told me last week.” Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “Don't worry, I won’t forget. See you!”

And then he's gone.

"-- like to come over again for dinner?" Kihyun finishes asking the empty corridor.

And he guesses that it serves him right that Minhyuk's got him wrong for once, but it still stings regardless.

 

\--

 

True to his word, Kihyun hears nothing from Minhyuk all weekend.

There are no surprise visits, no sneaking up on him in the lobby. Kihyun doesn't even hear his TV blasting the FIFA soundtrack in the early hours of Sunday morning. It should be bliss, it would have been bliss a month ago. A month ago, Kihyun would have marched into Fighter Juices on the way back from checking on his prints and picking up an Americano and have announced to Hoseok that he had just enjoyed the best, most relaxing, least frustrating weekend in recent history.

A month ago he wasn't worried that he liked Hot Neighbour. _Liked_ liked. A lot.

But now he is, and his quiet weekend is miserable.

 

\--

 

He knocks on the wall a little after ten on Monday night, when he is certain Minhyuk must be home.

Minhyuk calls “Sex delivery for Yoo Kihyun,” through the door before Kihyun has a chance to stop him, and Kihyun twists his arm up his back for being loud and obnoxious.

“Uggghh, have you got a subtle bone in your body?” He asks and Minhyuk yelps and laughs, and says “If I answer with an innuendo are you going to hurt me more?”

“Don't you dare,” Kihyun replies, but he can't manage to keep a straight face and ends up laughing too.

He feels strangely light, like he's floating a little off the ground and he wonders if this is the result of having company after a weekend of feeling lonely and, in turn, feeling angry at himself for feeling lonely. Now he isn't lonely, because here is Minhyuk - loud and rapturous and everywhere - and it's so welcome.

“You’re in a good mood.” Minhyuk eyes him curiously as he lets go of Minhyuk's arm.

“No, I'm not.” It's easy to deny. Comes naturally, always has.

“Liar, liar.” Minhyuk's voice is gentle, with a sing-song lilt to it. He takes Kihyun’s hand casually, pulls him towards Kihyun's own bedroom. “So, tell me, what's this time going to be for?”

“I can’t remember.” Kihyun allows himself to be pulled along. He's floating again, a little bit. He says, “There really were a lot of times. You do have this knack of just-- just appearing at the wrong time.”

Minhyuk sighs dramatically and pulls Kihyun down onto the bed with him. “I’m the worst.”

“You are.” Kihyun looks at him properly and the bed underneath them feels far away, like they're levitating above it. "You drive me fucking insane,” he says, and he means it so, so much.

Minhyuk blinks. “Only in a bad way?” He asks, and his hand is still in Kihyun’s, his thumb on the back of Kihyun's hand, rubbing tiny circles that Kihyun can feel everywhere.

He opens his mouth to say something. No, maybe. But words don't come, so he just nods his head instead and then leans in to hide his eyes from Minhyuk's gaze, just in case his internal dilemma is as obvious as it feels, waits for Minhyuk to close his own eyes and then kisses him.

They don't talk for a long time; no demands, no crude remarks, just breathy gasps and almost inaudible moans. Kihyun doesn't even stop to wonder at the fact that his neighbour is quiet, like he would when they first started doing this. Instead he just focuses on that weird feeling of happiness that has enveloped him since Minhyuk stepped foot back into his apartment again.

It's terrifying and addictive at the same time.

Once they're out of their jeans, Minhyuk pushes him flat onto his back, runs his hands up Kihyun's chest until Kihyun's t-shirt is bunched up under his arms. It'll be creased now, Kihyun knows, and he tries not to care but even if he's on a cloud right now, he's still _him_ , so he bats Minhyuk's hands away and tugs it the rest of the way up over his head, stopping to fold it in half before Minhyuk can argue with him. Minhyuk scoffs but allows it to happen, leans down and runs his tongue over one of Kihyun's nipples, rolls the other under his thumb gently. Kihyun gasps as tongue gives way to teeth.

“Keep doing-- yeah, that,” he murmurs as Minhyuk continues. The skin there is sensitive and it feels like almost too much, but before it can do, Minhyuk’s mouth moves, trailing kisses down over Kihyun's stomach as his hands work at palming him through his underwear.

“Such a disappointment. You haven't worn pink underwear again since the first time,” Minhyuk says from down the bed, pouts up at Kihyun, and Kihyun vaguely remembers something about red boxer briefs that he guesses could pass as pink and Minhyuk's excitement and general enthusiasm, plus the way that he had dragged his tongue down along the underside of Kihyun's cock with his eyes closed, peacefully. Back when this really was just I owe you sex to Kihyun. Before the happiness and the fondness and all that confusing shit sneaked in.

“They weren't pink.”

“They were. They suited you.”

“Shhh.” Kihyun digs the heel of his hands into the bed as Minhyuk works his hand under the waistband and wraps his fingers tightly around the base of Kihyun's cock; shiny, wet lips mesmerising Kihyun as he watches himself slide in and out of Minhyuk's mouth.

He's so hot; he's such a hot neighbour, it isn't even fair. And he probably _could_ get Kihyun off with his mouth in less than four minutes, which is even less fair. Nothing seems to be fair anymore.

Kihyun clenches his jaw, resolute. He doesn't want to come yet because he's worried that if he does, Minhyuk will go and this will end until next time. And next time, Kihyun knows, is the penultimate favour. That after next time ends there's only one time left. It's all going too fast, becoming too much, and he isn't sure he wants it to end at all.

Panic grips Kihyun’s throat and his hand grips at Minhyuk's hair, pulling him up and off his cock. Minhyuk looks confused for a second, and then Kihyun motions for him to move back up the bed.

“Get up here,” Kihyun says, and Minhyuk obeys with a smile, wiping an obscene string of spit from his mouth with the back of his hand as he crawls up the bed. Kihyun wraps a hand around his length, neglected and wet and leaking, and strokes a few times. Says, “Your hands are pretty big…” He trails off as Minhyuk nods, glassy eyed and red mouthed.

He knows what Kihyun is suggesting. Shoves down his own underwear in one clean motion and lines his own erection up against Kihyun's, his hand closed in a firm grip around them both.

There's something uncomfortably intimate about this, mouths so close, breathing against each other's lips as Minhyuk jerks them both off. Why uncomfortable, Kihyun can't say. Maybe he's just _telling_ himself that all of this - the dinner, the sex - is an uncomfortable type intimacy because intimacy in general usually is, for him. Maybe it's not actually uncomfortable at all. 

They kiss once or twice, eyes shut, Kihyun bucking his hips into Minhyuk's hand, as Minhyuk flicks his wrist at an increasing pace, working them over faster and faster.

“Tell me how annoying I am,” Minhyuk whispers. 

“You’re annoying. You’re so annoying,” Kihyun mumbles and he means it so much, but he doesn't mean it at all either and the familiar tight heat creeps over him, almost there.

Minhyuk kisses the side of his mouth. “You really hate it, don’t you? Finding me attractive.”

“Yeah, I do.” But not for the reasons you think, Kihyun doesn't add. “You're so damn--”

He doesn't finish his sentence, hips stuttering as he comes all over his stomach and Minhyuk's hand. Minhyuk grins against his skin, Kihyun can't see it but he can feel it, knows it. And then he comes too, slowing the movement of his wrist down, down, down, until he's just holding them still.

When he lets go and rolls onto his back, he pushes the hair from his forehead with messy fingers and says, “You must be really looking forward to when I’ve fulfilled my debt and you can fuck people you actually like.”

But Kihyun isn't, and he could say so. So he does. He says, “No, not really,” and he isn't floating anymore, can feel the bed swallowing him up as his heart beats into his ears.

“You aren't funny,” Minhyuk replies, sticking out his tongue out. “I'm not that easy to fool.”

Kihyun opens his mouth to argue, but when he says, “I mean it,” it only serves as further amusement for Minhyuk, who laughs to himself as he picks up his discarded clothes.

“Don't worry, I'm not that deluded. I know where we stand.”

Kihyun looks at him, but he isn't really looking back, already pulling his trousers back on. And that _is_ annoying. Kihyun is trying, and he's getting nothing back. This was his chance and Minhyuk, fucking annoying, stupid, kind Minhyuk, is ruining it.

“Right. Good," he says, blankly. And Minhyuk chooses now to look over at him, now when he's pissed off, signature stiff shoulders and indignant expression, and Kihyun realises that this isn't a missed chance after all, because maybe he has no chances to take after all, not after the last month.

He's told Minhyuk so many times that he wouldn't consider willingly sparing him a minute of his time him outside of this arrangement in a million years that it's impossible to take it all back.

Or maybe not impossible. Hopefully not, Kihyun thinks, later, once the familiar sounds of video games through the wall begins to invade his quiet. It's just that he has no idea where to start to try to make things right, and, as he brushes his teeth in the dark, he's wound up and he's anxious and he's annoyed, but only with himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah I'm so grateful for the lovely feedback you have been giving me, thank you so much <3333


	9. Chapter 9

Kihyun doesn’t sleep well after Minhyuk returns to his own apartment.  
  
He lies in bed and stews: a slow burn frustration that boils up inside him all night long. When the alarm on his phone goes off at seven thirty (an alarm he sets even when he doesn’t officially have a job on that day because it’s a habit he likes to keep, it makes him feel more like he has an actual career) Kihyun can’t have had more than four hours sleep and he’s grouchy and irritated, still, even after his first coffee of the day.

Kihyun doesn’t know for sure what will fix this, but he has a fair idea. 

The pre-9am rush is just ending when Kihyun steps into Fighter Juices. Hoseok is wearing a long sleeved t-shirt emblazoned with the shop’s logo on it that is so tight that Kihyun can see his nipples. He’d make a remark about it shrinking in the wash, even though he knows it hasn’t, but he is trying to curb his inability to live without snark. He needs to practise for when he’s next alone with Minhyuk. 

“What’s up with you?” Hoseok slides onto a stool next to him at the counter, leaving Changkyun, who is apparently now doing shifts at the store, to press fresh apple juice for a waiting customer. 

“Is it really that obvious that there is something wrong?” Kihyun wrings his hands. 

Hoseok smiles and replies, “Don’t hit me, but yes. It is.” 

Changkyun interrupts them (politely, _cutely,_ even) to ask if Kihyun would like to try a new recipe he’s been practising; a mixture of pineapple, mango and passionfruit juice with a hit of lime. 

Kihyun nods, even though he isn’t thirsty, and accepts the juice. He makes sure to make appreciative noises when he first takes a sip and asks, “How did Hoseok persuade you to join the team?” 

“I have less classes this semester.” Changkyun smiles, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “And less money. Hyungwon mentioned that there might be some work going here and there was.” 

“Some people actually accept my job offers,” Hoseok says pointedly, eyebrows raised, and Kihyun blushes, feels embarrassed for being so eager to brush off any help from his friend.

Kihyun grumbles and finishes his juice, as Changkyun moves away to serve another customer. “Am I really difficult to deal with? As a friend?” He asks Hoseok, looking at the chalkboard of Special Juices, rather than Hoseok’s face.

“Is this a trick question?” Hoseok drums his fingers on the counter.

“Ok, fine. I _know_ I’m difficult.” Kihyun rolls his eyes. “I just don’t know how to-- not be, I guess.” He looks at Hoseok now, to make sure he knows this isn’t a trick question after all, and that his honesty, the kind of honesty you can only really have with your oldest friend, even one who you’ve been keeping secrets about your love life from, is appreciated.

“You  _ know _ how not to be,” Hoseok says. “You just need a good reason for it, you always have.”

Kihyun mulls this over. “I have a good reason. I think.” 

"Oh, really?" Hoseok’s smile now is a mixture of all-knowing and intrigued. Mainly knowing, apparently, because he just spins round on his bar-stool happily and asks, “And his name is?” 

And Kihyun could lie again, like he does to himself when he pretends not to like spending time with his neighbour; like he does to his neighbour when he pretends not to like spending time with him. He could lie and say there is no one, or that it isn’t like  _ that _ , or he could change the subject entirely. Hoseok would let him, he always lets him. He’s a good friend like that. 

Maybe, Kihyun thinks, it’s too little too late with Minhyuk, anyway. Maybe he should just suck it up, retain his pride and brush this whole thing off.

“I’m waiting,” Hoseok reminds him. There is a line of customers forming now, and when Kihyun glances towards it, he notes Changkyun starting to look a little alarmed at the growing line. This could be his way out, if he wanted one, because he could nudge Hoseok, point out that he’s meant to be running a company and that he should get back to work. End this conversation and head across the road to drown his inability to open up to anyone in caffeine. He could allow Joohoen to smile at him radiantly, dimple on show and enthusiasm blinding, and forget about wanting so badly to find a way to sort his feelings for Minhyuk out.

But, instead, he ignores the line of potential customers, turns back to Hoseok and says, “Okay, fine. His name is Minhyuk.”

 

\--

 

Still, despite it all, Kihyun manages to reveal only to the vaguest of truths. He skirts over how he and Minhyuk met, leaves out the knocking on the wall and the fact that this began as a series of apologies or I Owe You's or whatever Minhyuk called it.

He definitely leaves out the fact that Minhyuk is Hot Neighbour.

He’s trying, he really is, but admitting  _ that, _ admitting that the man he has spent 6 months proclaiming to be The Absolute Worst is also the one he thinks he might _ like _ -like? Well, Kihyun can’t quite bring himself to admit that out loud just yet. Even to himself.

So he conveniently forgets their meeting and cuts straight to the casual sex, and the finality of said arrangement and the fact that he can’t help but point out every single thing he defines as a flaw in Minhyuk’s personality, to his face. He leaves out how convenient the thin walls between their places have become, and the way he’s found himself loitering in the lobby more and more on the off-chance that Minhyuk will appear. 

He’s so paranoid that Hoseok will put two and two together, he doesn’t even describe Minhyuk as “hot”, not once, even though he is (he can admit that to himself now, at least - that Minhyuk is completely, infuriatingly hot), just in case the word reminds Hoseok of Hot Neighbour, which he knows is top level paranoia, but he can't help it.

“So,” Hoseok says, when Kihyun finishes speaking, "You need to make him realise that, despite the fact you’re as much of a dick to him as you are to me-”

“Worse,” Kihyun makes clear.

“Despite the fact you’ve just admitted that you're emotionally stunted and stubborn and uptight-” He pauses to make sure Kihyun isn’t going to argue with that description, but he doesn’t. “You genuinely like him and you want to keep seeing him. And not just for sex, right?”

Kihyun nods. “Except I think it might be too late.”

“That’s just an excuse people tell themselves,” Hoseok says.  Kihyun can’t argue with that, either.

At the end of it all, after Hoseok has been all but begged to return to his job by his newest trainee (Changkyun’s hair getting more and more dishevelled as he leaps between the register and the three juicers lined up in a row), Kihyun is determined he is going to be a changed man around Minhyuk the next time he sees him. Or, if not changed, exactly, then at least not unintentionally a complete dick.

 

\--

 

Kihyun doesn’t loiter in the lobby that night. Instead, he takes a more direct approach and knocks on the wall between their places - three loud knocks in a row - a little after seven. He knows Minhyuk is in because he can see the light under his door when he gets back to their floor after doing his laundry. He's weirdly nervous.

Minhyuk appears in the hallway in shorts and a giant sweater, the sleeves billowing over his hands like they have been stretched out through being worn curled over big hands on cold days for years. They probably have been; Minhyuk has a tendency to pull his sweater sleeves down over his hands when he’s cold. Kihyun's noticed. “Is my TV too loud?” He asks. 

“Yes, but that’s not why I knocked,” Kihyun says. ”Do you want to come over?”

“Oh.” Minhyuk’s mouth forms the cutest surprised circle. “It was  _ that _ kind of knock. Two days in a row? Am I really that good in bed?”

Kihyun replies, “Don’t push your luck,” and it makes Minhyuk laugh.

“Come over in ten minutes, I’ll leave the door unlocked,” Kihyun says, turning straight back to his door because he knows that if he hovers there in the hallway much longer he might lose his resolve and un-invite Minhyuk with a remark about his company being unwanted.

And he’s trying really hard not to do those things anymore. 

 

\--

 

Minhyuk all but throws himself onto Kihyun’s couch, blowing his hair out of his eyes as he kicks off his shoes, one at a time.

“Just make yourself at home, why don't you?” Kihyun frowns pointedly in the direction of the shoes. 

Minhyuk doesn’t notice his displeasure. “I was talking about you today,” he says, as Kihyun pairs up the shoes and slides them out of view.

“What?”

Minhyuk nods. “We were talking about photographers at work.”

“Oh, right.” Kihyun realises that he’s never actually asked Minhyuk what he does for living. He’s never thought to ask. He never _cared_ , or he was trying not to care, anyway. He feels embarrassed, thinks about how often he’s talked about his own work, the amount of questions Minhyuk asks him about his cameras, and his prints, and how he gets the lighting, 'just like that'.  “Remind me,” he says, although they both know they have never discussed it before. “What is it that you do?”

“Hmmm." Minhyuk grins. "Criminal mastermind?”

Kihyun guffaws and motions for Minhyuk to move along so he can sit down. "Well, you have been stealing my WiFi for the last six months."

Minhyuk's face crumples into an expression of pure confusion. "I've been what?"

"I remember you asking for my password when you first moved in, before yours was set up..."

"Yeah... And mine was set up like a week later," Minhyuk replies.

Now Kihyun is the confused one. "Wha-- Really? My connection is so slow and you're always streaming video games and..." Could he really have been wrong?

"I'm not stealing your WiFi." Minhyuk glances at him furtively. "Except for sometimes when I exceed my bandwidth, and do you know how little bandwidth you get on the plan I'm on? It's stupid!"

Kihyun laughs, open mouthed and loud. "I can't believe you," he says, shaking his head. "At least you've admitted it. Are you going to tell me where you work or not?"

Minhyuk looks at him from his half-slumped position beside him. “You're not really interested,” he says, all matter-of-fact and Kihyun is once again reminded of the fact that he's been holding Minhyuk at arms length. That he wasn't interested before; he didn't  _ want  _ to be interested. It's weird, he realises, how much he knows about his next door neighbour. All of the bad habits and the traits that wind him up - the way he lets his door slam shut when he's had a drink, how he waits until his mailbox is overflowing before he checks it, the way he (still) mixes his recycling up wrongly before he takes it down to the recycling room. 

(Plus the way his eyelids flutter close when he's about to come, the distracted way that he runs his tongue over his bottom lip. He knows these things quite well, now, too.)

And, yet, he's never even asked Minhyuk about where he works. Not once.

"Tell me," Kihyun replies.

“Well, it’s not very exciting. I don’t get to play with cameras all day, like you.” Minhyuk pouts.

“I don’t  _ play _ with anything.”

“If you say so." Minhyuk shrugs. "I’m just a junior assistant at a graphic design firm. Really junior.”

“Oh." Kihyun isn't sure what he was expecting. Or, rather, he wasn't expecting anything in particular because he'd never thought about it, which is probably worse. "That’s cool.”

“Yeah? You really think so?" Minhyuk is doing that hopeful face, like the one he made at Kihyun the night that this all began, when he came to Kihyun’s door and suggested they hook up, and Kihyun realises that he genuinely wants Kihyun's approval of his career. Like it  _ matters _ . And this scares him. It makes him want to be sarcastic, to shake his head and say something disparaging. Something he doesn’t want to say, not really. So, he keeps his mouth shut and nods his head in reply. It _is_ cool. 

Minhyuk looks pleased, and he sits up a little - less slumped down into the couch cushions, hoodie ruched up around his neck - but he still has that hopeful look on his face. 

“Well, that’s what I do,” Minhyuk says. “And one of the directors at the company is getting married later this year and-- okay, before you say anything, I know that isn’t like, your  _ favourite _ work, but, just in case, I mentioned your name. It's going to be a _ really  _ well paid gig. The girl he's marrying, her family are  _ so _ rich." He says it all fast, like he’s trying to get all of the words out before Kihyun shuts him down. “Is that… Okay?”

"I mean-- uh, I probably wouldn’t need to take it. I mean, I might be too busy later in the year." Kihyun stumbles through his show of bravado, on the defensive about his career as always. It’s an automatic response to him, shutting down any offer of help from the people around him, any suggestion that he might need it. Kihyun plays it off as confidence, but deep down, he’s fucking terrified that he won’t make it on his own. “Thanks though.”

“Right. You'll have been, like, spotted by some big time publication or gallery owner or something by then." Minhyuk smiles.

"Of course I will.” Kihyun puffs out his chest. “And it will have been long overdue.” He tries to laugh but it comes out like a hollow, strangled noise, and then he feels awkward and exposed and stupid.  He stands up quickly and starts to head towards his bedroom, pausing to look back at the sprawled heap of lazy neighbour on his couch. “Aren’t you coming?”

Minhyuk gets up. “Coming? Not just yet, I do have  _ some  _ control,” he says and then grins happily at his own ability to turn everything Kihyun says into an innuendo.   
  
“You’re ridiculous,” Kihyun mutters, as Minhyuk catches up with Kihyun and slides an arm around his waist, but it occurs to Kihyun in that moment that Minhyuk's silly comments are often saving them from awkward moments. He thinks about that time in the recycling room - his mean comments and his regret, and then Minhyuk making a joke and lifting the mood. He was grateful for it then and he is now, too.

"Bad ridiculous?" Minhyuk asks, fingertips grazing the skin just under the waistband of Kihyun's sweatpants, and Kihyun he would normally say yes - he definitely would have if this was back in the recycling room - but he's promised himself that he won't panic and back-track and lie, not anymore, so he shakes his head and says, "It's not a bad thing, not really." 

And the honesty feels good.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Thank you so much for reading! Sorry x 36654 for the long waits!!)

 Kihyun had assumed that once he'd admitted to himself that maybe - just possibly - he likes Minhyuk more than he thought he would (or should), that the sex would be, well, different. In what way he hadn't decided on yet – maybe it would feel more important or less important. Or more scary, or maybe just more meaningful. But it turns out that fucking Minhyuk now is the same as it has been since they started: damn good sex.

So, Kihyun realises that the bedroom is probably the only and only place he’s been completely honest with himself since day one of their arrangement. It's kind of a relief, really.

Afterwards, Kihyun muses on how it's kind of weird that he feels less exposed and unsure lying here naked than he did an hour ago when he was still fully clothed but also wearing that fake bravado he puts on when he has doubts about his career. 

Or maybe that isn’t weird at all - he’s definitely had more vocal praise for his ability to fuck than he has for his ability to take great photographs in the last couple of years, not that Minhyuk is short of praise for either.

Minhyuk says, "Are you wearing a different cologne today?" and buries his nose into the crook of Kihyun's neck. "I noticed it earlier but it still smells good even now."

"Nope," Kihyun says. " _You're_ the one wearing the cologne."

"Oh, yeah!" Minhyuk pulls back a little. "It smells different on your skin. Sexier."

"Well, I _am_ the sexy one," Kihyun replies. It's easy, this back and forth. But the few minutes after fucking Minhyuk usually are, before Kihyun's brain turns back on properly and his internal brick wall rebuilds itself. "You're tickling my neck now, move over so I can get up." He pokes at Minhyuk’s hand until he removes it from around his waist and then pulls the duvet back and gets up.

“This is your bed, you know,” Minhyuk points out. “ _I’m_ the one who usually gets out of it.”

Kihyun ignores Minhyuk's comment and pulls on his pants. "You hungry?”

“Yeah, of course I am.”

Of course he is. He's always hungry.  

“They won’t stop feeding pizza vouchers into my mailbox." Kihyun picks up Minhyuk’s t-shirt in error and is almost tempted just to put it on anyway. He doesn't. “They have to be used by the end of the month.” He pulls his own t-shirt on before realising it’s inside out.

Minhyuk rolls onto his side and grins. “Are you asking me to hang around after sex and eat free pizza with you?”

"...Yes?"

“And the catch is?” Minhyuk sits up and stares at him.

“There isn’t one. Why would there be a catch?” Kihyun frowns. He has no idea what Minhyuk is talking about. “Do you want feeding or should I just kick you out of my apartment?”

“No-- no, no, I do want feeding. I’m just-- uh, I’m not used to this level of...” Minhyuk shrugs. “I don’t know.”

But Kihyun knows. Kihyun knows that he is usually cold and short and that he usually seems eager to get rid of Minhyuk as soon as they both come (after that five minutes of brain fuzz and bliss). He also knows that it must make him seem like– well, like a grade A asshole. And he knows that Minhyuk doesn’t realise his intentions, doesn't know that he’s trying so hard to be a human right now. It's no wonder he looks so confused.

“Well, I’m not saying you should get used to it,” he replies, carefully choosing his words. “I’m just saying I have vouchers. That's all. So I thought you might want to stay and share a pizza.”

Minhyuk throws himself back against the pillows dramatically. “Either I have just literally fucked you stupid,” he says, “Or you’re actually starting to like my company.”

"I just have vouchers to use,” Kihyun calls as he leaves the room, but he’s kind of happy that Minhyuk has noticed he’s trying.

 

\--

 

Kihyun realises when he makes it to the kitchen that he doesn’t have vouchers at all. He remembers, belatedly, feeding them all into Minhyuk’s mail-box in the lobby the week before. It’s a habit now. He thinks of it as his little way of caring without actually having to admit to it just yet.

(Baby steps.)

Inviting Minhyuk to stay and eat pizza with said vouchers is admittedly less subtle than secretly reposting coupons. Kihyun remembers Minhyuk’s confused smile as he'd had followed him down to the recycling room that time, and the genuine surprise in his eyes the first time that Kihyun had actually taken him up on his very first offer to make up for all those interruptions. He feels guilty that, even now, two months later, Minhyuk is still surprised when Kihyun doesn't want him to disappear.

Kihyun wonders what it would be like to be honest, and open, and so blatantly readable like Minhyuk is, rather than living his whole life on the defensive. He shakes his head as he pulls open the last drawer he can think of that might house a forgotten pizza shop voucher. Being honest and open and readable have always sounded like weaknesses to him. But, they’re not weaknesses,  not at all. He’s come to realise this - really, truly realise it - the more time he has spent with Minhyuk. They’re strengths.

Kihyun gives up on the search for reduced price pizza, grits his teeth and ignores the extortionate price that he is paying for what is essentially dough and grease and cheap sausage thrown into a cardboard box. He could make better pizza himself and Minhyuk probably wouldn't even notice it was homemade, and maybe one day he’ll try it, but, for now, he clicks to confirm his order on his phone, shouts, “I’m taking a shower now. Listen out for the buzzer for the pizza arriving,” to Minhyuk and tosses his phone onto the sofa, where it lands between two perfectly set cushions.

(He goes back and picks it up, setting it carefully on the kitchen counter-top, before he heads into the bathroom.)

 

\--

 

Minhyuk kicks Kihyun’s door shut with the heel of his foot and inhales deeply. “Fuck, this smells _amazing_. Did you order extra cheese?” He asks as Kihyun emerges from the bathroom, towel dried hair still damp at the ends.

Kihyun nods. “Double sausage, extra cheese and extra peppers.”

Minhyuk sets the box down on the countertop, chatting idly as he opens the lid. “That is so unfair! I order all the time and they’ve never let me add extra toppings on the free-- oh, wait, this wasn’t free.” He rips the receipt off the inside of the lid where it has been stapled, and scrutinizes it.

“What?” Kihyun isn't sure why he says this, because he knows what Minhyuk is reading and he knows that he paid for it, he just didn’t know they would staple the receipt to the inside of the lid of the box. They don’t usually. Or do they? Kihyun hasn’t ordered pizza in so long he really can’t remember.

Why did he let Minhyuk answer the door?

“There’s a receipt here, dummy. You paid full price for this!” Minhyuk looks up at him, head tilted to the side like he’s trying to figure something out. “Why did you say you had vouchers?”

“I thought I did have vouchers.” Kihyun takes the receipt from Minhyuk's hand and shuts the lid of the box. “Don’t let it get cold.”

“I could have eaten at home, you know. You didn’t have to pay.” Minhyuk's head is still at that funny angle, cocked to one side. His hair has fallen to the side, framing his face and Kihyun half wants to fix it and half wants to memorialise it forever. It would make a nice photograph.

In the end, though, Kihyun simply mutters, "Just eat the pizza, it’s here now," drags the coffee table closer to the sofa and places the box on it.

"Plates are in the top right cupboard," he tells Minhyuk, who says, "I remember from last time." It's the first sign of domestication Minhyuk has ever shown and it makes Kihyun smile.

Minhyuk catches him watching. "What?" He passes Kihyun a plate. "You're looking at me funny."

Kihyun opens the lid of the pizza box. "I'm just thinking about how easy it is to control you with pizza."

Minhyuk laughs. “I knew you had a motive for ordering food." He reaches into the box and takes a slice. "Hey - I want to know, what's the longest I’ve ever gone without annoying you for?”

Kihyun thinks about this. “You went away for a week over Christmas. That was nice.” He picks out his own slice of pizza; one from the middle that has just the right amount of cheese and peppers on it.

“You stayed here?" Minhyuk asks through a mouthful of dough. "By yourself?" He looks horrified.

“I had work." Kihyun shrugs. "Festive functions, parties...” It wasn't a big deal. Hoseok had facetimed him from his mom's house and had moaned about having to share a bedroom with his cousin for the holidays. Kihyun had gloated and had mentioned that his annoying neighbour had gone on vacation and about how nice it was to have some peace on his floor.

Minhyuk might be reading his mind, because he asks, “Wasn’t it lonely? Without me hanging round, making noise through the walls, forgetting where I live.. All my usual charms?”

Kihyun smiles. ”It was… Peaceful," he says. And it was, but maybe if he'd given Minhyuk a chance back then he wouldn't have revelled so much in his absence. He can't image it now – Minhyuk not being right there, through the wall, waiting for him to knock. Or, rather, he _can_ imagine it and it's not peaceful at all. It's wrong and sad and empty.

It’s funny how things change.

 

\--

 

Kihyun takes the empty cardboard box straight down to the trash while Minhyuk finishes the last slice in food-induced silence. He leaves Minhyuk with strict instructions not to do anything stupid, to which Minhyuk replies, “I’ll try!” and he even sounds like he means it.

Despite this, Minhyuk is looking awfully suspicious when Kihyun returns to him. For one, he isn’t standing on Kihyun’s bed getting greasy fingers on the print above it, which is instantly a bad sign. He’s sat on the sofa, exactly where Kihyun left him, bare legs crossed at the ankles.

“What have you done?” Kihyun asks, scanning the room for evidence of some kind of disaster.

“Don’t be mad,” Minhyuk starts, and confirms all of Kihyun’s fears with those three words. “It's just that I dropped my slice and got the smallest amount of pizza sauce on one of the cushions.”

Kihyun tilts his head back and sighs. "Which one?”

"Err, this one.” Minhyuk moves to the left slightly and points at the reddish stain next to him. “And this one too.” There’s a second mark on the cushion next to it.

“How the fuck did you--”

“It’s your fault,” Minhyuk says, interrupting. “It turns out it’s you're the one who fucked _me_ stupid.”

Kihyun examines the cushions more closely. He’s lucky he is on first name terms with the lady who runs the dry cleaning place in the street behind Fighter Juices. She usually gives him a discount on the basis that he reminds her of her grandson, which makes him secretly very fond of her. "My dick is not to blame for your idiocy,” he says.

Minhyuk is more like himself now as he relaxes and grins, and asks, “How can you be so sure?”

“Because you were just as ridiculous before we started sleeping together.”

“Ouch,” Minhyuk replies, but this time he’s laughing.

 

\--

 

When he checks his mailbox the next afternoon, Kihyun finds a note written on a napkin inside it, the neat letters written in ink that has bled into the napkin’s folds that stain his fingers blue as he reads: 

_I owe you the cost of ~~one~~ two dry-cleaned cushions. And probably more sex??? Sorry again!! _

“Sorry again.” Kihyun reads the last two words aloud and laughs to himself. Minhyuk hadn’t even said sorry once in the first place, not that he had minded. He’d had too much fun to really care about the state of his upholstery, which meant that his remark about Minhyuk being ridiculous since day one had felt light hearted and tongue-in-cheek when it had come out, instead of feeling mean and petty, and ruining the mood. And it had clearly _sounded_ that way too, Minhyuk laughing and nodding in agreement with him before he'd gone next door to bed.

Kihyun feels like he’s actually making steps (albeit baby ones) in the right direction - towards letting go and relaxing, and not allowing tiny things to cause him to blow up. Towards completely relaxing with somebody. It feels good.

He remembers the note again later, when he’s dropping off the cushions at his favourite non-biological aunty’s shop. He takes it out of his pocket and smiles as he re-reads it.

He wonders what the offer of dry-cleaning money means to Minhyuk, really. What any of his offers have ever meant. Does the napkin-note mean exactly the same as the sex, he wonders? Is it just a way for Minhyuk to worm out of trouble? A form of currency between the annoyed and the cause of annoyance?

Or – the possibility hits Kihyun as he steps out into the street – could an I-owe-you be Minhyuk’s way of saying _I care_ without actually saying it too? Maybe they aren’t so dissimilar after all, he thinks, if only in one way.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (As always, thank you for being so lovely on the last chapter <3)

Kihyun doesn’t usually turn his TV up too loudly out of respect for his neighbours, but since one of them is the person turning the volume up inexplicably high, he figures it’s okay just this once.

 

“It needs to be nice and loud,” Minhyuk says, as though he’s reading Kihyun’s thoughts and answering his questions before he has a chance to ask them out loud. “Maximum volume so it's as if we’re in the movie theatre.”

“But we _aren’t_ in a movie theatre.” Kihyun fails to wrestle the remote control from Minhyuk’s grip. “We’re in our building, where other people also live. People who enjoy sleeping and having intact eardrums.”

Minhyuk pulls a face, but he does turn down the volume a little. “Where’s the popcorn?” He looks around, crestfallen expression that is kind of cute and a whole lot of ridiculous.

“I’ve hidden it from you,” Kihyun admits. “My dry cleaning bill is already extortionate this month.”

Minhyuk laughs. Apparently this is hilarious. “Kihyun, popcorn can’t stain cushions,” he says, as if he’s tried it before. He probably has.

Kihyun narrows his eyes. “I’m not risking it. If you want some, I’ll pass you a handful. I know where it is.”

Minhyuk laughs again. “If hanging out with me is such an effort for you, why am I here? You still have one I Owe You card left, you know. You could just use it. Or kick me out.”

“I don't know why,” Kihyun mumbles. He turns the television volume down once more, so that the volume is on an even number, and hugs the cushion on his lap closer to his body.

Minhyuk is watching him out of the corner of his eye, Kihyun can tell, can feel those eyes on him, trying to figure him out. The truth is that Kihyun does know why he’s invited Minhyuk over for dinner and to watch a movie, again.

There are several reasons why, actually.

The first is that he’s definitely become used to Minhyuk’s presence in his life, and he’s realised it’s not as bad as he thought it would be.

The second is that becoming used to having him around has made him realise that ridiculous and accidental thoughtlessness aren’t the worst of character traits - that just because Minhyuk lives his life differently to him (more impulsive, less tidy, over exuberant) doesn’t mean he’s living it wrongly. And that their way of lives kind of compliment each other really.

And the third is that he’s given up on denying that Minhyuk is so attractive it actually _surprises_ him sometimes when he opens his front door to him or catches him laughing at the movie when he returns with a handful of popcorn as promised. Sometimes it feels like Minhyuk is so good looking it’s a shock to be confronted with. And, yeah, that used to leave Kihyun a little ruffled, a little pissed off (and to an extent maybe it still does), but at least he is at peace with it. Minhyuk is hot and Minhyuk is different and Minhyuk is good company.

It’s just a shame that Minhyuk is also dead-set on never having sex with him again after the final I Owe You card (metaphorical as they may be) has been handed in, stamped and filed away.

And that brings Kihyun to the fourth and final reason for why he’s been inviting Minhyuk round to hang out - just hang out - more lately.

He desperately wants to put off the end of their arrangement.

In a word, he’s screwed.

 

\--

 

Hoseok and Changkyun have their serious faces on. Hyungwon looks sleepy, but maybe the tired look is just in at the moment, Kihyun can never be sure. Hyungwon is laid back, but he’s also on trend in a way that Kihyun is sure isn’t even conscious. Kihyun won’t admit this to him, though, so he just says, “Are you bored by your own company?”

Hyungwon raises an eyebrow. “Can we put Kihyun into the blender? I think he’ll fit,” he calls out to the others.

Kihyun sits up taller on his stool and resists the urge to push Hyungwon off his, if only because it will only end up with Kihyun paying to dry-clean his jacket again if he does.

The urge resurfaces when Hyungwon says, “Hoseok told us that you have a secret boyfriend.”

“Did he?” Kihyun sends daggers in his best friend’s direction, but Hoseok is writing down an ingredients list with Changkyun, their serious juicing faces still in place. “Well Hoseok is wrong.”

Hyungwon says, “He’s called Minhyuk. He works at a graphic design agency. We don’t know where he lives or how you met him yet, but we know he sometimes leaves your neck all marked up.”

“Is nothing sacred?” Kihyun huffs. That is literally everything he told Hoseok when he finally admitted that those hickeys weren’t appearing out of thin air. And now Hoseok has shared it with all of their friends! Kihyun would be more angry if he didn’t know deep down that that he’d do the same if their positions were reversed. “I don’t have a boyfriend. He’s just someone who I’ve been sleeping with.”

Hyungwon says, “Ah, I see,” but he clearly doesn’t believe this. “So, did you see him this weekend?”

“...Yes.”

“For sex?”

“Uh, well, no.” Kihyun feels awkward now. Why is he even discussing this with Hyungwon? “We just watched a movie and had some food.”

“So, let me get this straight. You two sometimes have sex, and you sometimes have dates. That, my blend-able friend, sounds to me like a relationship.”

Kihyun scowls. “It’s– it's complicated. It’s _not_ a relationship. It’s just a _thing_. It has an expiry date, if that makes sense?”

Hyungwon stares at him, eyebrows furrowed, like Kihyun has completely lost him in trying to explain the bizarre nature of his and Minhyuk’s relationship. He probably has. Hell, even Kihyun himself is pretty lost in all of this and it's his doing.

“Maybe we could just put Kihyun's _hand_ in the blender?” Hyungwon finally decides, but luckily neither Changkyun nor Hoseok are listening.

 

\--

 

When Kihyun gets back home, he finds Minhyuk sitting cross legged in the hallway, sorting through his recycling and generally getting in Kihyun’s way.

He looks up and smiles, and Kihyun kind of wishes he’d let Hyungwon murder him earlier, because it's annoyingly bright, and he _likes_ it.

“You got anything to take to throw away?” Minhyuk holds out a tin can. His shorts are riding up on his thighs from the way he is sitting, and it’s distracting. “I’m heading down to the trash room to recycle.”

“I did mine this morning,” Kihyun says and steps round his neighbour before he loses his resolve not to use up his last I Owe You. The shorts are really distracting.

Kihyun taps in his keycode and the door opens. Safety.

“I’m going to be a better neighbour, you know,” Minhyuk says before Kihyun can get inside.

He looks back. Minhyuk is still looking down, sorting his trash. Still in the way. “You are?”

Minhyuk nods but he doesn’t look up. “I’m going to turn my TV down. I’m going to be less noisy when I come home drunk. I’m going to make a list before I go grocery shopping so I never forget to buy something important and have to sweet-talk you into letting me take yours. I just thought of that one!” He looks up then, eager and proud of himself. Kihyun is so annoyed, with himself mainly, because Minhyuk is trying and Minhyuk thinks that’s all that Kihyun wants from him.

Kihyun though that was all he wanted too, but apparently he was wrong. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he replies, but he smiles despite his better judgement.

“Yeah, well, I’m starting now.” Minhyuk stands up, picking up the box of recycling. “See you soon.”

“Yeah. No, actually–” Kihyun pauses. He shuts his door again. “I’m coming down with you.”

“Because you still don’t trust me to recycle correctly?”

“Minhyuk, I may never trust you to recycle correctly,” Kihyun says. “But I don’t trust _anyone_ to recycle like I can. I’m the King of it.” He grins. He feels normal, like he isn’t fighting to seem disinterested and irritated. He’s just being truthful.

 

\--

 

Afterwards, they take the stairs back up from the trash room, Minhyuk swinging the empty box beside him. When they get to their floor, Minhyuk says, “You haven’t knocked lately. Knock-knocked, I mean.” 

“So?” Kihyun shrugs. Shit, he thinks, Minhyuk's noticed. 

Minhyuk copies him, shrugging back. “I know it’s just a means to an end for you. It’s okay if you’re- uh- bored of it now.”

“I’ve just been busy.” Kihyun bites his lip. Busy making dinner for you and hiding popcorn and being gossipped about by my confused friends, he doesn’t add.

“Oh, right. Of course, I know you have a lot of important stuff going on.” Minhyuk continues to swing the box, and Kihyun knows he isn’t even being sarcastic. He genuinely respects Kihyun’s work and thinks he’s _important._  Kihyun wishes it were so, but, these days it feels like he’s barely a photographer at all. He shot a couples fortieth wedding anniversary photos earlier in the week and had almost cried when they'd picked out the most boring, simple shots to have printed.

Kihyun just nods back, mute.

“But the offer is there, if you want to take it. We might as well go out with a bang,” Minhyuk finishes. There is definitely a euphemism in there somewhere, but Kihyun's brain doesn't catch it in time.

“Right, yeah, you're right,” Kihyun replies when he remembers how to speak. "The last payback."

Minhyuk nods and adds, “I promise not to touch your camera, even if I stand by the fact that photos of my dick would look great in a gallery,” just as someone swings open the creaky door on the first floor. His voice seems to echo through the stairwell, ten times louder than it seemed before. Someone from a floor below clears their throat.

Kihyun cringes. “Do you have any filter?” He hisses and pulls Minhyuk through their own door onto their floor.

“This is me using my filter.” Minhyuk laughs, eyes sparkling as they reach the sanctity of their own hallway.

And then he licks his lips distractedly, and it reminds Kihyun of why he agreed to go along with this arrangement of convenience, as ill-thought out as it definitely was, to begin with. Of the ways that Minhyuk has always managed to wriggle his way under Kihyun’s skin, irritatingly so.

Minhyuk interrupts his train of thought just before it derails into dangerous territory. “Why are you staring at me like that?” He whispers, leaning in, waiting for an answer. Kihyun could kiss him if he just moved his face an inch forward. He could kiss Minhyuk and take him inside his apartment and let him leave marks on his shoulder and press accidental bruises into his hip and then tell him he’s been thinking - about this, about them, and about his mouth and his legs, his entire personality, and everything in between - and that he’s scared for it all to end.

But Minhyuk pulls his head back and says, “I’m joking, no need to look so frightened, neighbour.”

Kihyun takes a deep breath. “My contact lenses are acting up,” he says, and he might be answering Minhyuk’s question about the staring, or maybe he’s just giving an excuse to get the fuck out of the hallway, but he’s sticking with it. He scrunches one eye up for good measure.

“You’re wearing your glasses,” Minhyuk replies with a smirk. And he’s right, damn him.

Kihyun leaves him in the hallway without another word and decides that maybe it would be best if he did just get it over with and knock on the wall between their apartments sooner rather than later. Dancing round the subject of fucking for the last time is driving him crazy and maybe, Kihyun thinks, it would be best just to get it all over with. 

He just needs to sleep with his hot neighbour one last time and then set about ignoring these feelings he's developed forever.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while but I promise you all that clothes will come off in the next chapter. Pinky swear!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like all I do is apologise for the horribly long wait between chapters, but, again, I'M SORRY :(((. Thank you for reading <3  
> Also I'm behind on replying to comments, I promise I'll reply to you all soon!!! *Throws love @ everyone*

 

Kihyun knocks once softly and then three more times with a little more force, and then he waits with his knuckles still there, held against the wall above his bed, until the music playing on the other side of the wall ceases. His stomach does a flip and he tries to ignore it. He's doing what he promised himself - getting this finished, done and dusted, ended completely, so he can get on with pretending he hasn't developed actual _feelings_ for the guy on the other side of the wall.  

When Minhyuk appears in his doorway, he looks unsure, and a little flustered, and he asks, “What have I done now?”

“I have a list," Kihyun replies, "but I didn't call you over to scold you. I was, you know, knocking for you.”

“Oh." Minhyuk blinks. "Oh! You were? I was starting to think that maybe you didn’t want to take me up on the last offer.”

Kihyun thinks that it's been blindingly obvious for weeks that this is what he wants, but it's not like he hasn't been told before on countless occasions that he isn't easy to read. Probably because he spends his life putting up barriers between himself and anyone who dares to get under his skin. And, anyway, it's good to know that he is managing to keep his crush, or feelings, or whatever this is, to himself.

“I didn’t even want to take you up on the _first_ offer, but for some reason I did," he says. It's not a lie, after all. At least, he’d _thought_ he didn't want to.

“True." Minhyuk nods, a smile forming on his lips. "And then you took the the second offer, and the third, and…” He trails off to avoid Kihyun’s balled fist, which lands lightly on his arm as he laughs. “Hey, hey calm down! So, what am I paying you back for spoiling this last time?"

It's probably a rhetorical question, and, anyway, Kihyun gave up recollecting all of the genuine scenarios that Minhyuk managed to sabotage a while ago now. But his brain tries to come up with something, regardless.

He knows there were a few potential drunk hook-ups that ended up as lonely hangovers, and there was the night that the guy from the internet who didn't want to hang around while Kihyun worried about the potential fire risks of Minhyuk with matches. That was annoying.  

There was also the time that Minhyuk let that stray cat into his apartment, "by accident", and Kihyun's date, who it turned out had a severe allergy to cat hair, came up in hives and left Kihyun with the bill for the prescription for his antihistamines. But Kihyun is pretty sure that Minhyuk has already brought _that_ episode up in the last couple of months, and that debt has been cleared.

There are a lot of situations that haven't quite gone to plan, most of which Kihyun has spent the best part of eight months blaming Minhyuk for. But Kihyun isn't stupid; none of those guys he met in nightclubs were ever going to change his life. Anyone who leaves halfway through dinner - dinner _he's_ cooked, no less - is an ass. And even if he can't blame that one date of his for being allergic to cat hair, honestly? Kihyun didn't like him much anyway.

In reality, Kihyun realises, Minhyuk hasn't really spoilt anything at all. "This last time is to apologise for..." he starts, and then pauses to think about how to word it. 

"Yeah? For what?" Minhyuk looks so interested, like he wants to know what to repent for, and it's stupidly endearing and also kind of sad and Kihyun can't think of _anything_ right now, so he just says, "Everything," and allows Minhyuk to close the gap between them, place a hand on his waist and kiss him happily. 

 

\--

  

They get to the bedroom, but Kihyun can't remember who led them there. Minhyuk stops kissing him to glance up at the print above the bed and says, "I still think it's so cool," as Kihyun he takes this opportunity to tug his t-shirt off in one quick motion.

Minhyuk doesn't catch a trick, though, and takes it from him before he can find somewhere to put it neatly. Then Minhyuk holds it up, out of reach, before opening his fist and dropping it behind him. "You can fold it later." He grins. "Just stay in the moment, one last time, 'kay?"

And Kihyun would normally huff or mutter something about Minhyuk's infuriating messiness, but Minhyuk is right, it can wait. It'll have to. So he just pouts a little and pulls Minhyuk's sweater over his head. He only hesitates for a second before dropping it the floor alongside the t-shirt.

Minhyuk actually _claps_ him, teasingly. "I'm proud."

Kihyun does huff out a breath this time. "No, you're patronising."

"Nope." Minhyuk presses careful kisses underneath Kihyun's ear and down to his collar-bone, hands resting on his arms. Kihyun wonders if he'll leave another hickey, like a farewell gift. His face feels warm and he wonders how he can get it to happen, without having to ask for it.

"Any requests?" Minhyuk asks, as if he's reading his mind, but Kihyun can't bring himself to say it. He's having a lot of trouble with words today (or, always) - at least the ones he really wants to say.

Instead he goes for, "Yes. Hurry up," which makes Minhyuk laugh and that's kind of nice too.

Minhyuk is obviously listening to him for once, because Kihyun is naked and on his back pretty quickly, Minhyuk over him, hand splayed out on his hip just like Kihyun has come to expect, as he kicks his pants off, face serious as he struggles to get them all the way off over his ankle. It's all sorts of ungraceful and it could be awkward if it were anyone else half lying on top of him and muttering about the perils of elastic, but it's Minhyuk - Minhyuk, his silly, careless, cheery, neighbour - so it isn't awkward at all.

Minhyuk's hand leaves Kihyun's waist, trails over his stomach and down to wrap around his cock, and Kihyun lets out a whine he didn't know he was even holding in. Minhyuk seems to like it because he shifts down the bed, then, until his face is level with his hand. "I still don't believe you don't take dick pics with that fancy camera." He looks up at Kihyun with an amused glint to his eyes, and if his mouth wasn't so close to Kihyun's cock he would flick him in the forehead. But, it is, so he just closes his eyes and slides his hand into Minhyuk's hair.

Minhyuk's hand is skilled and his mouth is stupid, and Kihyun is scared he'll never get blown like this ever again in his entire life. He's convinced that Minhyuk might be the most enthusiastic giver of blow-jobs he's _ever_ met, and he's suddenly full of regrets he didn't get Minhyuk to do this every damn time they fucked. Kihyun watches in awe as Minhyuk's mouth works over him, his tongue and his fingers working in perfect harmony to make him feel like he wants to live in this moment forever. 

Minhyuk licks his lips when he pulls his mouth away from Kihyun's cock. "You're not saying things," he tells him. "Say things."

"Oh. Uh, that was really good."

"No, no-- not stuff like that." Minhyuk wipes his mouth. Kihyun is confused, but he's too turned on to try and figure out what Minhyuk is saying, and then Minhyuk is stretched across the bed and is opening his bedside drawer. He holds up the lube he finds like it's a trophy and flicks off the lid with his teeth, screwing up his face when it gets on his mouth. "Not flavoured," he complains.

"I didn't expect you to eat it." Kihyun takes the tube from Minhyuk, visions of Minhyuk getting it everywhere if he allows him to do it himself flooding his mind. Minhyuk holds out his hand obediently and Kihyun says,"You better let it warm on your fingers before you go near my ass this time," squeezing the tube gently.

It's still cold, but at least he is prepared when Minhyuk slides a finger inside of him. Kihyun breathes in, adjusting to the sensation.

"Another," he says, and Minhyuk obliges, working slowly as he fucks him open with his fingers, pushing in and out with a rare look of pure concentration. He waits for Kihyun to nod before he stops being so gentle, scissoring his fingers and fucking into him faster, until Kihyun is ready and Minhyuk is lined up against him, condom appearing out of nowhere (or maybe Kihyun was just enjoying the prep too much to notice Minhyuk rolling it on with his other hand). Kihyun closes his eyes and relishes in the tight feeling of really being filled as Minhyuk pushes into him, all the way.

"Tell me-- you know. How much you hate me." Minhyuk looks down at him as he says it, a little hesitant, a little excited. “You know you won’t get a chance like this again. And you like it, I know you do.”

“I-- yeah, I like it." Kihyun does. He isn't going to pretend he wasn't taken aback the first time that his neighbour had come completely undone to the tune of Kihyun's mean words, but he likes it. He likes that Minhyuk likes it. "But you like it more.”

Minhyuk smiles, lopsided and cocky and says, “ _Duh_ , it’s my bulletproof kink.” And then he slides both of his hands underneath Kihyun's knees to keep his legs up and starts to thrust his hips and Kihyun loses his mind to the intensity.

“You’re stupid,” he tells Minhyuk, who tightens his grasp around Kihyun's leg and continues to fuck into him as he gasps, “Yes. More.”

“And annoying." Kihyun closes his eyes. It feels so good and he wants to tell Minhyuk, but he's not meant to be saying good things. He usually doesn't want to. It's funny how things change. "You annoy me. You're-- you're a fucking idiot, a complete idiot.” He's rambling, now. He could be saying anything.

He opens his eyes and takes in Minhyuk's flushes cheeks.

"Yeah?"

“Yeah. Your mouth is one of the most infuriating things about you.”

“My mouth is stupid,” Minhyuk agrees. He leans down and kisses Kihyun with that stupid, beautiful mouth, Kihyun straining his neck, lifting his head from the pillow to keep it going. He could kiss Minhyuk all day, he thinks, and not only to keep him quiet. Now now.

“It’s so fucking-- fuck you." He breathes out when Minhyuk sits straight up again and thrusts into him harder. "Just fuck you, Minhyuk.”

“For what?” Minhyuk is half smiling down at him and his eyes are hazy and he's so hot it's _unfair_.

“For existing. For being my neighbour.”

“Keep going. Meaner.” Minhyuk is fucking him even faster now, rapt with attention, listening to every single word that rolls off of Kihyun's tongue. " _Please_."

“I hate you," Kihyun says. "I hate spending time with you. You’re a fucking idiot and I hate you." Has he already said that? He doesn't know what he's saying now. He just knows it's all lies and that he feels fucking amazing.

Kihyun isn't sure which of them comes before the other, but it's definitely him that falls asleep first.

And when he wakes up, thirsty and sticky, Minhyuk isn't there. Time to move on, Kihyun thinks to himself, as if it's going to be easy.

(It isn't easy.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: it not being easy ;D


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for your incredibly lovely comments & I'm so sorry for the ridiculous amount of time between chapters. <3

The thing is, Kihyun has never really had to try the whole moving on thing before.

One night stands and casual flings don't usually require moving on from, granted, but even when Kihyun's one and only ever proper relationship (if that’s what you call three months of strained conversation and mediocre sex) ended after college, Kihyun hadn't mourned the end of the relationship like he guesses he was meant to have, which he admits was useful (no tears or sleepless nights) but, honestly, he'd felt like maybe it made him a bad person in some way -- uncaring or unmoved or just plan unloving.

He still wonders if that’s the case, sometimes.

The other thing that's making it kind of difficult for Kihyun to figure out the whole moving on thing is that he knows that, really, there is nothing to even move on _from_. 

Minhyuk is still there every day and night, he's still next door, through the stupidly thin wall. Still his neighbour - just like he has been all along. A hot, annoying neighbour who just happens to have slept with him a few times to apologise for ruining Kihyun's love life. And Kihyun hadn't even been that bothered about his love life to begin with, not really, not if he's truly honest. He'd just been _annoyed_. Irritated by Minhyuk's careless attitude and happy-go-lucky exterior and desire to be his friend when he didn't want someone like that intruding into his life. Or, he thought he didn't want that.

But he definitely wants that now, and so moving on is probably going to be completely fucking impossible.

 

\--

 

The only tactic that Kihyun can think of to try and get over the feelings ( _feelings,_ it feels weird to even think about it, because they're _real_ and they're for _Minhyuk_ ) is complete avoidance. Avoid Minhyuk, avoid the feelings. Simple. 

Avoiding Minhyuk means coming up with excuses to never linger in any of the communal areas of their building, and waiting until he's completely sure that Minhyuk isn't around before he steps foot outside of the safety of his apartment.

It isn't exactly the most difficult of tasks, but it does mean that Kihyun has a laundry bag stuffed full of clothes he should have washed days ago in the corner of his bedroom and the part of him that likes order and tidiness (which, he admits, is pretty much all of him), cries everytime he has to step over it to leave the room. It's his own fault he realises as he maneuvers his way around the laundry bag for the third time in as many hours; Minhyuk barely even knew the laundry room existed before Kihyun took an interest in his lack of domesticity.

Now it's just another place to avoid in case Minhyuk is there.

Kihyun shuts his bedroom door behind him so he can't catch a glimpse of the bag, or the painting above his bed, or his _bed_ itself - fuck, since when did everything remind him of Minhyuk - while he cooks.

But the kitchen reminds him of stolen cookies and borrowed rice cookers and badly chopped vegetables too, so he orders in barbecue chicken and watches re-runs of old variety shows with the curtains shut.

And yes, okay, maybe going completely out his way to avoid Minhyuk since they slept together for the last time is not exactly the healthiest way of trying to get rid of his feelings and it doesnt seem to be getting rid of them at all (maybe he's just hiding from them, really, he thinks as he steps over the laundry bag on his way to bed that night) but, honestly, Kihyun has no other ideas about how to go about this. So avoidance will have to do for now.

It's just a shame it sucks so much.

 

\--

 

Two weeks into his pathetic attempts at distraction (he's given up calling it moving on - there's no movement of anything at all), Kihyun waits with his ear pressed against his living room wall until he's sure the second half of Minhyuk's game of FIFA has just begun from the muffled in-game commentary he can hear from the speakers and he can be sure that there is zero chance Minhyuk is going to manifest in the corridor in an oversized sweater, with mussed up hair and a lazy grin, before leaving his apartment. It's early evening and Kihyun has been drafting up invoices for the Parents and Baby shoot he did the week before. It had been soul destroying: the baby had cried and he'd failed to cheer it up and the parents had been flustered and the studio had been warm and stuffy and his attempt at a hard-sale of the optional extras (t-shirts and extra prints and a USB with all of the images) had failed, drowned out by the baby's cry. 

The invoice amount won't even cover one of his utility bills, and he's frustrated and he can't knock on the wall, like he might have done a few weeks before. He needs to get out of the apartment.

He takes the stairs, two at a time, instead of waiting for the elevator, and his heart beats in his ears when he thinks about flirting in the same stairwell with Minhyuk a few weeks before. Except, he's meant to be avoiding those feelings and he _is_ trying, really he is, but even the stupid pizza coupons left in a pile on top of the row of mailboxes remind him of Minhyuk.

"You idiot," he mutters as he slides the coupons into Minhyuk's mailbox, and he's talking to Minhyuk and he's talking to himself too, and he wishes he could just leave the coupons without wanting to make sure Minhyuk gets them, but he can't. He just can't.

He wonders if Minhyuk is thinking about him at all, and then tries not to think about that, because the likelihood is slim and his pride (or maybe it's his heart) couldn't face it if the answer was no. 

It's probably no, Kihyun decides. Minhyuk probably thinks about happier people, nicer people who don't roll their eyes when he's being cute. People who don't tell him he's a pain in the ass and then accept sex from him for it.

Kihyun needs coffee, and maybe to move house.

 

\--

 

Jooheon smiles widely when the customer in front of Kihyun moves out of the way in line at the store. It's after seven, and Kihyun normally tries to keep his caffeine habit to strictly before two pm, but today it seems necessary.

At least Jooheon seems happy to see him.

“Hyung, look!" Jooheon points at the wall behind him when Kihyun reaches the front. Only one of his photos remains above the counter. There is a new photo next to it by a different artist: a cityscape against a blue sky. It’s nice, if a little unimaginative. “We sold another one of yours. And they were interested in the last one, too.”

"They were?" Kihyun goes to place his coffee order, but Jooheon is already ticking boxes on the take-out cup with a marker pen. Kihyun's that predictable, or maybe Jooheon is just that good a barista. "Triple shot today please," he adds and Jooheon glances up at him curiously, but he doesn't say anything - just nods and makes another mark on the paper cup.

Jooheon rings up his order and mouths to Kihyun to give him two minutes. He serves the next person in line, and then the one behind them, and waits until there is a lull in customers before Kihyun watches him giving his manager a pleading look and pointing a finger over to where Kihyun has taken a seat. 

"Are you on break?" Kihyun asks as Jooheon takes the seat across the table from him.

"No, but Hyunwoo-hyung knows you're one of our contributors," Jooheon says. "I told him you needed to talk business for a few minutes."

Kihyun laughs. "Right. Well, let's get down to it. Did it really sell?"

"Of course it did! The buyer seemed kind of sad that these were the only ones we have that were taken by you. They asked if you were currently showing anywhere in town.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes. Someone thought he might have an exhibition on? _Him?_  "You're just making this up,” he says.

Jooheon snorts. “I'm _serious._ Jackson told them your website address. I made him memorise it. And he said you were this close to making it big.” He holds his thumb and forefinger up as they slide into a booth near the counter, the smallest of gaps between them. "So they'll probably email you or something and offer you a big job!"

“Did they actually _say_ they wanted to work with me?” Kihyun asks and sips his coffee. 

“I don't know. Jackson didn't tell me." Jooheon leans across the table. "You know, you should bring some more prints in. Hyunwoo-hyung asked specifically for me to mention it. The counter looks weird without your work up there now."

“I don’t have any more.” Kihyun twists his mouth, disappointed in himself. Hyunwoo _had_ done him a big favour by offering to let him display his photographs in the store in the first place, and right above the counter, no less, although Kihyun is pretty certain that Jooheon had helped by sweet-talking his manager into that. “I’m-- I’m in a rough spot, to be honest. Artistically.”

“Have you been trying? Have you not had any ideas? Any inspiration?"

Kihyun almost laughs aloud, thinks about Minhyuk and the R rated suggestions he’d given for Kihyun’s work. “I’ll-- I’ll think of something.” He smiles. He'll _have_ to think of something, unless he wants Hoseok to be his manager. And he doesn't want that, if only because he'd feel like a failure. More of a failure. Also he'd have to see Hyungwon more than usual and, while the verbal sparring can be fun, it wouldn't be if he was having to engage in it while also wearing a Fighter Juices apron. “Anyway, I should get going, check my website is up-to-date, in case a super rich investor is logging on to check me out. And also because I think Hyunwoo is about five seconds away from firing you.”

Jooheon glances over at Hyunwoo, whose face is growing more and more red as a sudden influx of customers gather round the counter like vultures.

Kihyun walks home from the shop the long way, sipping his coffee slowly until it’s almost cold. Selling a print is a pretty great feeling, even if it isn't a major breakthrough - not the type he's still dreaming of. But it's extra income and it's the validation that he craves as an artist, and, honestly, he craves validation more than he'd like to admit. He'd taken it from Minhyuk quite happily after all - all of the compliments, the awe over his profession - he'd taken that and the sex and done nothing in return except call him names and fall in love with him without his knowledge.

When Kihyun gets home, he takes the elevator and lingers in the hallway, presses the keypad to his apartment loudly, inputting the number four times, just in case Minhyuk might hear him and come out to annoy him or keep him company. But all that happens is that he stands in the hallway long enough for the motion-sensor lighting to turn off around him.

He checks his emails as soon as he gets inside, but there's only spam mail.

 

\--

 

Kihyun dreams of Minhyuk that night.

Maybe it's too much evening caffeine that keeps his mind buzzing as he sleeps, or maybe this is just what it's like to want someone you tried really hard not to. Maybe it doesn't need to make sense - dreams rarely do.

He dreams that he's at a wedding. It's early evening, he knows this because the sun is setting outside. The french doors of the ballroom are open, and there are streamers fluttering in the wind, stuck in a tree branch from the celebrations outside earlier in the day when it had been warmer. Kihyun knows he should go outside now, but he can't remember why.

He isn't even sure why he's at the wedding. He doesn't know the couple. He doesn't know anyone. He just needs to go outside.

When he reaches the doors, he sees the water, the pink and green and purple shadows, bright and beautiful, as the balloons float across the lake. Kihyun wishes that he could live in the moment forever, and he must say it out loud because someone behind him says, "You can. Take a photo."

"What?" Kihyun turns around and there is Minhyuk, oversized hoodie and mussed up hair and, weirdly, Kihyun’s rice cooker bundled up in his arms.

He's smiling. "Go on, take a photo," he repeats and Kihyun doesn't understand, but then he looks down and he's holding a camera. He's been holding it all along, apparently. It's funny that he didn't notice and he wants to say this, but instead he asks, "Did I knock on the wall again?"

Minhyuk just grins. "Pink suits you, you know," he says and licks his lips. 

And when Kihyun looks down again, the tuxedo is gone, and so is the camera, and he's standing there in pink underwear. _Oh_. When he looks back up again to argue, Minhyuk isn't there anymore, and neither is the lake.

Kihyun wakes up the next morning bleary eyed and kind of bemused, and clears the plans in his schedule for the following weekend, thinking that he might just know what to do to get his creative inspiration back.

 

\--

 

Kihyun finally sees Minhyuk again in the flesh the next Saturday.

He’s waiting for the elevator on their floor, sucking the straw of his iced drink obnoxiously. He does a double take at Kihyun when he appears, raises an eyebrow and says, "I was starting to think you'd moved out."

Kihyun blushes. "I guess we just haven't– um, crossed paths lately."

"Hmmm, I guess." Minhyuk tilts his head, and Kihyun wonders if he's going to challenge him, if it’s been that damn obvious that Kihyun has been avoiding him, but instead he just smiles and looks away.

The silence is weird. Not awkward, just– tense, a nervous energy in the air around them as they enter the elevator.

Kihyun usually likes silence, especially where Minhyuk is involved, but he feels an overwhelming need to break it this time. The strap of his camera bag digs into his shoulder a little which reminds him of his news. “Um, so, someone bought another one of my photos from the coffee shop I show at.”

“What?" Minhyuk's head almost _spins_ , he looks back at Kihyun so quickly and it’s funny and it’s flattering all at once. "Oh! Shit, that's amazing!”

The tense air dissipates and Kihyun grins, and waves a hand a little to brush off the compliment. "I guess it's– I guess it's pretty good. It could lead to something. It’s kind of exciting.”

"It's not just _kind of_ exciting." Minhyuk sighs. "Kind of exciting is finding money down the back of your sofa or when a stray cat gets into your apartment building. Not this."

"It's just a sale. One sale. It's really not a big deal." Kihyun plays with the strap of his bag and soaks in the positivity like a man starved.

"One sale is all it takes," Minhyuk points out, all serious faced: earnest as always.

Kihyun can't help but laugh. "You sound like a cringey inspirational speaker," he says, as the elevator bell dings and the doors open at the lobby.

"Thank you." Minhyuk gestures for Kihyun to exit first.

Kihyun almost rolls his eyes, but catches himself before it happens. Still, he says, "That wasn't a compliment, you know."

Minhyuk just chuckles. "I missed you talking dirty with me, Yoo Kihyun. Where are you going, anyway? Not out to celebrate without me, I hope?" He sucks at the straw of his drink again, and Kihyun is pretty certain he’s doing it suggestively on purpose. It makes him kind of happy.

Kihyun shakes his head. "I’m going out with my camera. You know the place where I took that photo you like so much? The wedding venue with the gardens and the lake?"

Minhyuk nods. "That print is seared onto my eyelids forever," he says. "As is your come-face."

Kihyun ignores the last comment, even if it does make his heart leap in a weird way that it shouldn't. "Someone kind of suggested I take some photos there again," he says. He doesn't mention that it was a hazy dream version of Minhyuk himself.

Minhyuk smiles at this. His smile is blinding and it's infuriating and Kihyun knows the feelings he’s developed aren't going to go away, that he can't avoid them at all now. Even when he's _asleep_ he can't avoid them. So he clears his throat and adds, "Maybe... Do you want to come with me?"

And it's scary, and it's new, and maybe Minhyuk is everything he never realised he needed to crawl under his skin and never go away, but that's okay.

Just as long as Minhyuk says yes.

 


	14. Chapter 14

Minhyuk, for the first time since Kihyun met him, looks lost for words, and for a moment Kihyun wonders if he's made a mistake. Inviting Minhyuk, reaching out -- this isn't _him_. This isn't in his comfort zone. Nothing about Minhyuk is in his comfort zone.

"I don't have all day," Kihyun says, to fill the silence. To make himself feel better.

"Thanks for the invite," Minhyuk replies. He looks torn. "It's just that... Uh..."

"You don't have to come, I'm fine on my own,” Kihyun says as he fakes a smile and clenches his fist around the strap of his camera bag. The strap digs into his shoulder uncomfortably.

"No! No-- I want to come. I'm coming," Minhyuk says. He's suddenly himself again: springing into step beside Kihyun, grinning as he swirls the straw in his iced coffee with his tongue. "Can't miss an opportunity to see the genius at work, can I?" He adds and nudges Kihyun in the side.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and tries not to smile as wide as he wants to. "Genius might be a _little_ too strong a word," he says, to which Minhyuk just shakes his head,his hair falling into his eyes as he does.

It's raining when they get outside, not that Minhyuk even seems to notice. Kihyun gets out his umbrella, and Minhyuk makes a fuss of Kihyun's camera bag, making sure it stays under the canopy of the umbrella so it doesn’t get rained on. "I'm being useful," he explains, when Kihyun gives him a confused look, and Kihyun has to admit that, for once, he really is.

When they get to the station, their train is only three minutes away. It's just enough time for Kihyun to buy a cheap coffee from the kiosk on the platform. It tastes burnt, and nothing like his regular order made by Jooheon three blocks away, but it's hot and it gives him something to hold as they stand on the platform, so he can ignore the nerves he's feeling at spending time with Minhyuk for the first time since he realised he was completely fucking doomed by his own feelings.

When the train arrives, Minhyuk takes Kihyun's camera bag from him and sits it on his lap like it's something precious that requires his protection. "I'm making myself useful," he explains, when he spots Kihyun's bemused expression. "So you don't regret inviting me along." He narrows his eyes. "And don't just say, ' _I already regret it_ ,'"

"I wasn't going to say anything like that," Kihyun replies curtly.

And it's true.

 

\--

 

The train journey is less than twenty minutes long, they're only going only four stops along the line, but Minhyuk has taken his phone out and frowned at it as it dings to notify him of a message at least ten times since they got on. It's irritating, Kihyun thinks, but then again - maybe it isn't irritating as much as it's making him feel left out. Jealous, even.

He can admit that to himself now, which feels weirdly liberating.

“Who keeps texting you?” He asks.

Minhyuk pulls a face that Kihyun guesses means, don't ask, but he answers anyway. “I was meant to be meeting this guy from-- this uh, app. For a thing.”

Right. “A thing?” Kihyun cocks his eyebrow.

Minhyuk frowns at his phone, before shoving it back into his jean pocket. He's still cradling the camera bag close to his chest and Kihyun almost feels bad for ever worrying about the safety of his camera (his baby, his pride and joy) in Minhyuk's possession before. Almost. “A date type thing," Minhyuk clarifies.

“Oh." Kihyun mulls this over. Minhyuk has a date. He's dating. But, of course he is. They're not sleeping together anymore, and, even if they were, Minhyuk could date whoever he wanted. Maybe Minhyuk had been dating people the whole time? "Oh, wait, do you need to go?”

“Nope." Minhyuk smiles. "I’ve stood him up to watch you take photos, obviously."

Kihyun opens his mouth to reply. He's going to scold Minhyuk, he can feel the words on the tip of his tongue - his automatic defence: find something wrong with Minhyuk's choice, even though - or maybe _because_ \- his choice is to spend time alone with you instead.

"What? I know you want to say something." Minhyuk hugs the camera bag tighter.

"I hope you let him down gently," Kihyun says instead.

"I sent him a naked selfie to lessen the blow," Minhyuk replies. "Want to see it?"

" _No._ " Kihyun almost jumps across the aisle to stop Minhyuk from getting his phone back out. "Agh, you're so..." He leaves the sentence at that and sucks in a breath instead, and Minhyuk spends the rest of the journey laughing about his terrified face.

 

\--

 

It's not far from the train station to the entrance to the park, and the rain holds off for a while, relieving Minhyuk of his self imposed camera bag duties for a while. The park is only just outside of the city, but it's quiet today, which Kihyun is quite glad of, even if it's only because the weather is terrible. It means he won't have to share the park with too many other people. He doesn't mind sharing it with Minhyuk. It seems right that he is here. 

Kihyun wants to find the exact spot that he took his favourite photograph. He doesn't know what he expects to find there - maybe nothing, maybe everything. But, hopefully something to shoot, at least. In the last three days he's already received multiple texts from Jooehon reminding him of the empty spaces above the counter at the coffee shop, and he needs something to focus on that isn't having a crisis over being in love with his neighbour-come-fuckbuddy. He's determined to get at least one perfect photo today. One he's proud of, one that _speaks_ to him.

"Can I speak?" Minhyuk half-whispers next to him. 

Kihyun glances at him out of the corner of his eye. "Why wouldn't you be allowed to talk? You don't usually stop."

"You just seem very in the zone. It's fun to watch," he says. "I feel like I'm being let it on a secret."

Kihyun scoffs. "This is a public park," he points out, but he knows Minhyuk isn't talking about the setting. And, he's right in a way. Kihyun works a lot of parties. He works weddings and engagements, and the odd event opening. He takes photos at Hoseok's random lock-ins. He looks photos of Jooheon at work for a week once, for a photo theme project about the art of the perfect coffee, surrounded by people in the coffee shop all day. There are often people there, surrounding him, when he takes photos, but they aren't _with_ him. Watching him intently, interestedly. There are always people there, but they aren't in on the secret, like Minhyuk is today.

Kihyun wants to let Minhyuk in on other secrets too - like the one about Kihyun possibly (definitely) being in love with him, but that thought brings a kaleidoscope of butterflies to his stomach. It's terrifying.

Still - this is progress, and Kihyun is proud of himself.

 

\--

 

They walk through the park until they reach the ornate conservatory that doubles as a luxury venue in the summer. Kihyun stops along the way to take photos when the mood strikes, and Minhyuk follows him, giving a ridiculous running commentary in the background, which is annoying, but kind of funny too. Kihyun refuses to let Minhyuk see him laughing, though. He doesn't exactly want to _encourage_ him.

It starts to rain again, grey skies rolling in above them and ruining a shot of the lake behind the conservatory, and Kihyun curses as he tries and fails to take the photo before it's too late.

"It's so pretty here," Minhyuk sighs happily. "I can see why people choose it as a wedding venue."

"It's nicer when there are clear skies," Kihyun mutters.

"Want me to hold the umbrella while you shoot?" Minhyuk offers, putting it up before Kihyun can even say yes. "You'll owe me for it, though. You can pay me back with dinner or sex. Oh! You really _do_ owe me sex, since you totally cock-blocked my hook up."

"I didn't even know you had a date," Kihyun raises the viewfinder to his eye. "if anyone cock-blocked you it was yourself." He pulls back to view the photo he's just taken.

"True. Okay, okay, I'll just do this as a favour. No payback required." Minhyuk peers over his shoulder to check the photo too, oohing as Kihyun zooms in and checks it over. "Although if you're doing any laundry later this weekend.."

Kihyun remembers the mountain of laundry he has been purposefully avoiding, just like he's been avoiding Minhyuk, and blushes. "I'm not doing your laundry," he says.

"I wasn't asking you to. I thought we could do it together," Minhyuk replies. "That's all. I'm being a better neighbour. I haven't bothered you in over a week, have I?"

"Haven't you? I hadn't noticed." Kihyun lies and takes another photo quickly.

 

\--

 

The rain doesn't stop for the rest of the afternoon and Minhyuk begins to complain about getting cramp in his arm from holding the umbrella up, not that he actually stops holding it. After the sixth complaint in as many minutes, Kihyun says, "Okay, okay, I'm done anyway. Let me just look through these last few shots - there's a bench just under the canopy," and leads the way towards the conservatory building.

Minhyuk makes a big deal about getting to put down the umbrella and stretching his arm out. They're covered from the rain sitting here - all except the tips of Minhyuk's fingers as he holds his arm out in front of them.

Kihyun slaps his arm gently, "You'll catch a cold," he says, and Minhyuk pouts, but does as he's told. It's cute. It's _so_ cute that Kihyun almost doesn't care that he doesn't feel like he's actually made any progress in terms of getting his inspiration back for his work today.

Almost.

"This one's great." Minhyuk takes the camera from him and begins a review of his own. "Oh, and this one!" He gives the camera back to Kihyun. "You're my most talented neighbour."

Kihyun smiles, but only for a brief second. "I don't know. I don't-- I guess today's photos just don't say anything to me." He chews at his lip. "The last time, after the wedding party, the atmosphere was still there, you know? The guests had gone, but the magic was still in the air. There's no-- no magic in these."

Minhyuk's eyebrows furrow. "So, you're missing the wedding?"

"No, not the wedding specifically. Just the-- romance. Or something. I don't expect you to understand" Kihyun turns off his camera, and works on fitting it neatly back into the case, which has somehow remained dry all afternoon. It's a silver lining, for sure. That and the fact that Minhyuk is here to distract him from his lack of progress.

"I do understand," Minhyuk replies, and then reaches a hand out underneath the awning again and lets his hand get wet. “I don’t think I can face walking back to the train station in this weather. My umbrella arm is too tired." He sighs. "I’ll ring for a cab. I'll pay for it.”

Kihyun scoffs and says, “You're such a gentleman.”

Minhyuk just smiles in response, as if he can't hear the sarcasm in Kihyun's voice. Maybe he really can't hear it, Kihyun thinks and panics. Maybe he forgot to make it sound like an insult at all this time.

Kihyun’s heart tries to jump out of his chest, and he busies himself with zipping and unzipping the camera bag as if he's doing something super important, while Minhyuk calls a cab. 

That done, Minhyuk scrolls through his phone notifications (for the first time since the train, Kihyun realises), his face contorting into more and more disgruntled expressions as he does.

Kihyun finally stops pretending to pack up his camera. "Why do you look so offended?"

Minhyuk looks up again. “Maybe that guy I was meant to be seeing today hasn't taken my rejection as well as I'd assumed." He pulls another face and holds up his phone. "You should text him back and tell him my dick is actually totally average sized, it just looks kind of small in that photo because my hand round it is so big."

“The naked photo didn't distract him from being stood up, I take it?" Kihyun says. "And no, I'm not going to text a stranger back about-- about _that_."

Minhyuk huffs. "Because you're too sensible and mature?"

"Because he isn't worth replying to." Kihyun shrugs. "He needs better insults, for one. Anyone who knows you even a little bit knows that you are obsessed with your own dick."

"Maybe you could give him some tips on insulting me," Minhyuk suggests. "You know - how I’m an idiot, I have a - what was it? Stupid mouth? And how hate-able I am.” He's smiling, but it's not the smile Kihyun is used to. It doesn't seem to truly reach his eyes.

“You asked me to say those things,” he says. "I thought it was a sex thing." He tries not to blush.

"Well, yeah, it’s my bulletproof kink, duh. But, I just assumed… I thought you must have meant some of it."

“You are annoying, sometimes.” Kihyun watches Minhyuk's face. "But I don't hate you."

“You’re lying. Stop lying, Kihyun. You don’t have to lie to me. I know you don’t _like_ me.You think I’m hot, and you want to make a better neighbour out of me. Maybe you feel kind of responsible for me or something. But… It’s okay if that’s all it is. It never needed to be anything else." Minhyuk's voice seems quieter now. "You don’t have to like me. You're allowed to think that I'm an idiot.” 

“I don’t think you’re an idiot. You’re just different to me. You have different priorities. And that--well, it used to really wind me up.” He looks at his feet. “I really don’t think you’re an idiot. Not anymore.”

There is a long silence. Kihyun can feel his heart thumping in his chest and he almost wishes he’d let Hyungwon stick him in the juicer and end him completely the last time they hung out at Fighter Juices. He's hardly said anything - 'I don't hate you' isn't exactly 'I can't get you off my mind and I wish you never ever listened to anything bad I ever had to say,' but it's enough to make Kihyun feel vulnerable. And Kihyun can't stand feeling vulnerable.

He’s about to say, “Only joking,” and make everything better, or worse. Whatever. Anything to end the excruciating, embarrassing silence, but he doesn’t get a chance, because the noise of tyres rolling over gravel alerts them to their cab arriving.

"Finally! This cab company is getting so slow, come on." Minhyuk jumps up. He's on his feet in record time, and then he pulls up the collar of his jacket, as if that’s going to do any good, ducks and runs from under the awning and towards the waiting car. He stops before they reach it and almost knocks Kihyun over as he whirls back around.

"Woah." Kihyun stops in his tracks. "What is it?"

"Sorry!" Minhyuk cries. "Quick, get your camera back out."

"What?"

Minhyuk is insistent. "I'll hold the cab driver, but you need to take a photo before we go."

"Of what?" Kihyun frowns, but he unzips the bag and takes out his camera nonetheless.

"Back there. Go on, this'll be the shot, I know it." Minhyuk smiles, and it actually reaches his eyes this time. "Just take the photo!"

Kihyun turns back, points and shoots, camera focused on the space they'd just vacated: An empty bench, glistening with raindrops, and the reflection of the lake in the window behind it.

When Kihyun slides into the cab, Minhyuk is already in an animated conversation with the cab driver, laughing as if they’re real friends. Kihyun fleetingly feels sorry for the driver, and then he feels jealous instead.

Kihyun sits quietly as they drive to the station and checks the preview of the photo he just took at Minhyuk’s insistence and -- it's _weird_ . Because that is the shot. It's dreary and grey and wet, but it has _feeling_. There are four dry patches on the ground from where their feet had been stopping the rain from soaking the patio underneath their shoes, and there's flash of light from across the lake reflecting in the window, in the top left corner. It almost looks like a lone star.

There's magic in the photograph. Romance, even.

Kihyun watches Minhyuk's face; watches his eyes crinkle at the sides as he laughs at an anecdote of a terrible passenger that the cab driver is telling. Watches the way he absentmindedly licks his lips before he speaks, and the way that his body leans in towards Kihyun naturally as they turn a sharp corner.

And Kihyun thinks that maybe, just maybe, Minhyuk really does understand after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for putting up with my slow updates! <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I'm sorry for the wait between chapters! I can't stress enough how grateful I am that there are still people reading this & I'm so sorry for how terrible I am at updating. 
> 
> I promise I will reply to the comments on chapter 14 as soon as possible! /Throws kisses at you all/

Kihyun’s hands are cold, but he can’t put his gloves on because the camera doesn’t do what he wants unless he has his hands on it properly. Plus, he likes to feel it - the weight of it, the way it feels under his fingers.  

(Kihyun told Minhyuk this as they’d left the apartment building under ominous looking clouds. 

“I don’t wear gloves when I shoot.” He’d shrugged when Minhyuk had pointed to his hands sticking out under the long sleeves of his jacket, pink from the frosty weather.  

“You’ll get cold,” Minhyuk had said, punctuating the sentence with a sad little pout.

“I don’t feel the cold when I’m working,” Kihyun had replied, ignoring how cute Minhyuk’s mouth could be, curled down at the corners in his exaggerated concern. “So you can focus your worry on not dropping the camera bag and stop pestering me.”) 

He moves a little to the left, steps backward, framing the shot just so, until it’s damn near perfect, and then-- “Wait!” Minhyuk is suddenly at his side, interrupting Kihyun’s flow as he tugs at his arm.

Kihyun sucks in an annoyed breath. “Why? I was _just_ about to take-- What are you doing?” He asks, as Minhyuk pulls one of Kihyun’s hand away from the camera and covers it with his own hands.

Minhyuk ignores Kihyun’s struggling. “I’m helping,” Minhyuk says, rubbing Kihyun’s hand between his own. “I’m keeping the talent warm.”

“I told you I don’t get cold hands,” Kihyun lies. He manages to pull his hand out of Minhyuk’s grip, not that he really wants to. His hand _is_ freezing, and it’s quite nice to have someone there who is thinking about him, about his well-being. Except, Kihyun has never been very good at accepting other people’s concern. It makes him feel vulnerable and small and needy, and he never wants to be those things. They scare him. “Stop irritating me,” he mutters, turning back towards the cafe, which no longer looks perfect for his shot; a shadow has formed next to the door that he’s sure wasn’t there before, and the magic is lost, and his hands _are_ cold, and he wants Minhyuk to hold them.

He stalks off further down the street. Maybe letting Minhyuk join him for a photography session again was a bad idea, even if it is thanks to him that Kihyun has a theme to focus his work on again.

When Minhyuk catches up to him, he’s chewing at his lip. “I thought you didn’t hate me anymore,” he says.

“I don’t hate you.” Kihyun replies. “We’ve been through this. I get annoyed with you, because–– Because you’re _annoying_. Not because I hate you, got it?”

Minhyuk nods, but still he adds, “So, to be clear, am I helping you or irritating you today?”

“You’re… You’re helping.” Kihyun pauses. “Thank you.” 

Minhyuk immediately brightens at this. “What did you say?” He raises his eyebrows, grinning, as he says, “I need to hear it again.”

“I’m not repeating myself.” Kihyun clicks his tongue and picks up his pace. “Come on, there’s probably a wedding ending at the hall on the next street soon.”

“Want your hands warming up on the way?” Minhyuk asks as they head towards the venue of their next potential shot.

“Not cold,” Kihyun lies, as his fingers go slowly numb.

 

\--

 

Changkyun isn’t cleaning out the blenders like he should be. He’s peering over Kihyun’s shoulder, watching as Kihyun clicks through preview images on his laptop, copying the ones he is happy with (so, not many of them), into a new folder.

“Am I missing something?” He asks, as Kihyun copies three photos of the doorway to the wedding venue he and Minhyuk had waited outside the day before. They’d been given a couple of weird looks, but Kihyun is used to hanging around on his own, waiting for something to photograph, and Minhyuk hadn’t noticed the looks anyway. 

(“You look at me weirdly every time I see you, I’m immune to judgy faces now,” he’d said, when Kihyun had mentioned it.)

Kihyun keeps his eyes on his laptop screen in the hopes that Changkyun will move back if he doesn’t acknowledge his existence.

He doesn’t. Instead, he leans further over Kihyun and asks, “Have you been photographing ghosts?”

Kihyun ignores the question and calls out, “Hoseok, tell your employees to stop talking out of their ass.” Hoseok is in the back, taking an order of protein powders into the storage. It’s a little after eight and they’ve been closed for ten minutes. Today is Changkyun’s turn to clean as they shut down, except apparently he’s prioritising hanging around the customer’s side of the counter, where Kihyun sits on his usual stool, working through his photos from the last week.

“What about my ass?” Hoseok calls back.

“Not _your_ ass. Changkyun's talking out of... Never mind.” He turns back to Changkyun. “If you _must_ know, I’m working on a new project.”

“A project photographing ghosts?” Changkyun’s nose is wrinkled in confusion and he still isn’t cleaning anything. Kihyun is certain that any other employee of Hoseok’s wouldn’t be getting away with this much, but then any other employee probably wouldn’t be as charming as Changkyun is with their regular customers when they’re open, so Hoseok’s leniency is understandable.

“It’s about... It’s photos of passed moments.” Kihyun gives in and tilts the screen towards Changkyun. “See? This is the doorway of a church where a wedding just took place. I took it yesterday.”

Changkyun says, “I thought you took photos _of_ weddings, not after them.”

“Changkyun really isn’t doing any work,” Kihyun calls into the back of the shop again, even though he knows Hoseok isn’t listening. He adds, under his breath, “And he has no appreciation of art.”

“I’m joking, hyung.” Changkyun rolls his eyes and heads back around the counter to begin his closing up duties. “It’s a cool idea.”

“I know it is.” Kihyun smiles. He can’t help but feel a little smug, a little giddy even. It’s been a long while since he had focus in his work. Since his camera really felt like his _tool_ and not just something used to make a living by photographing events he wasn’t invited to for people who didn’t really care that he was there. “I’m hoping to get about fifteen photos and then I might see if I can show them somewhere. I mean, if it works out. It might not work out, it’s early days, yet.”

Changkyun nods. “So, how did you get the idea?”

“It just came to me.” Kihyun shrugs. “Actually, that’s a lie. I’ve had some help from someone,” he says.

Hoseok appears from the back of the store and sets a box of Protein flapjacks down on the counter. “Is Kihyun admitting he’s had help with something?” He asks, eyebrows raised.

Changkyun nods as Kihyun vehemently denies it. “You heard nothing,” he says, finger pointed threateningly.

“Well, it’s good to see you happy.” Hoseok stacks flapjacks up on the shelf behind the counter. “You know, the next time I have a party here you should bring him.”

“Bring who?”

“This new muse of yours.” Hoseok looks back from his display and smiles. “What was he called again?”

And Kihyun wants to argue, because his face is going red and his usual defences are rising, closing in on him in a mixture of panic and denial, but what’s the point? He is trying to be more honest - with other people, but most importantly with himself. So, for once, he tries it. “He’s called Minhyuk,” he replies.

He notices the way that Hoseok and Changkyun glance at each other- a perfect look of surprise at Kihyun’s lack of reluctance to their questioning on both of their faces. Kihyun fights the urge to close his laptop and leave the premises.

“And how are things going with Minhyuk?” Hoseok asks. "You said you were going to be more-"

"Human," Changkyun finishes. Kihyun throws him a death stare. 

“It's going slowly.” Kihyun turns back to Hoseok. “I’m pretty sure he still thinks that I hate him.”

Hoseok pulls a face. “Remind us, why does he think you hate him?”

Kihyun runs through the limited information he’s given up about Minhyuk. There are three concrete things that Hoseok knows: 

  1. They are (or, more accurately, were) sleeping together.
  2. Minhyuk was the cause of some badly hidden hickies on Kihyun’s neck.
  3. Thanks to Minhyuk, Kihyun had recently gone through an emotional crisis which made Kihyun want to talk about his _feelings_ and generally act out of character.



And that’s all. That’s everything he’s allowed them to know, which would be hardly anything to someone else, he guesses,  except to Kihyun it’s more than enough to make him feel nervous, like maybe he’s overshared, despite the fact that he hasn’t even told his friends how they _met_.

Kihyun looks down at the keyboard of his laptop, as if it might provide him with an answer. “Um, well...”

“Why would the guy you like think you hate him?” Hoseok continues. And he looks genuinely confused, like he wants to help - and he does, Kihyun knows he does and that’s why he’s such a good friend. “I mean, you’re not the friendliest person I know, but the only person I’ve heard you say you hate - like, actually hate - is your hot nextdoor neighbour…” He trails off. “Unless?”

_Fuck._

Kihyun doesn't confirm Hoseok's sudden suspicions about Minhyuk, but he doesn't deny them, either. He can't even form a coherent reply at all, just says, "look at the time!" while gesturing towards his bare wrist. Then he proceeds to slam his laptop shut and gather his belongings up in record time.

He hears Changkyun say, "I'm lost. Who has a hot neighbour?" as he strides to the door of the juice bar, and escapes before his friends' gossiping continues without him.

 

\--

 

Minhyuk knocks on his wall and then knocks on his door, and then walks in to his apartment. Just strolls right on in, as if he's been invited.

"I'm only here to say that I've been telling Auntie about your cold hands, and she said she'll knit you some fingerless gloves. You just need to tell her if you want blue wool or red."

"Auntie who?" Kihyun asks, adding, "And I _don't_ have cold hands."

"Lies," Minhyuk replies. "And Auntie is the lady who lives at the end of floor five. I don't know her name, but she likes to be called Auntie and she's sometimes in the lobby waiting for her daughter-in-law to pick her up for lunch. She knows who you are. She says that she likes you because you're tidy and quiet." 

Kihyun nods. "Right. So why does she like _you_?"

Minhyuk shrugs. "I really have no idea."

Kihyun bites his tongue so he can't say, "me neither," because he _does_ know why. He knows why anyone would be stupid not to like Minhyuk. He's warm and he's funny and genuine, and he doesn't seem to realise it, which Kihyun realises makes him feel kind of sad.  

He works at setting up his laptop on the table next to his sofa and says, "I'm going to work though some of the photos from yesterday." 

"Ah.” Minhyuk nods. “I'll go."

Kihyun clears his throat. It feels tight, like he’s being strangled by an imaginary person. Or maybe he's just being strangled by his own feelings. "I didn't mean it like that.. I, uh, might need more help, you know, from a fresh set of eyes."

"So, I can stay?" Minhyuk asks, hopeful eyes and awkward stance in the door. He isn’t even wearing shoes, and Kihyun wonders if he thinks it’s acceptable to wander round their building, chatting to random residents while half dressed. But this is _Minhyuk_ , so he clearly does.

 "You can stay.” Kihyun nods, and gestures for Minhyuk to come and sit down. “Just please don't touch my camera."

 

\--

 

Kihyun avoids Fighter Juices for a whole week before Hoseok calls him from a private number and says, “Stop ignoring me. It's okay to have been wrong about someone.”

Kihyun tucks his phone underneath his chin and opens his fridge. He has some meat to use up, and he’s been wanting to try out a chicken recipe he saw being made on weekend television last week. “I’m not ignoring you, I’ve been busy.”

“Busy ignoring your best friend because he was right. I was right, wasn’t I?”

Kihyun murmurs something noncommittal down the phone. “It’s confusing,” he says. “He still annoys me, but, I guess…” The words feel stuck in his throat.

“Come on, think about it,” Hoseok says. “He was always trying to get your attention, which worked because you talked about him constantly. Ask Changkyun and Hyungwon, I was surprised when you started seeing this new guy because I was sure you were _totally_ into your neighbour. There's no shame in admitting you were wrong about him.”

“He isn’t as bad as I made out,” Kihyun admits, which is the understatement of the year, but whatever. It’s as much as he can manage, right now. He’s always been prideful. He’s head-strong and he’s set in his ways and, okay, maybe it means he comes across a little less than human. It works for him. Vulnerabilities, admitting defeat, _feelings_? They’ve never been his forte.

Luckily, Hoseok knows this, and he adds, more gently now, “He's obviously good for you, Kihyun. Make sure he understands how you feel. I'm not having you crying into a wheatgrass shot in my bar when he gives up on you.” 

Kihyun shuts the fridge, and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I don't like wheatgrass,” he says, but he understands Hoseok’s sentiment, and he’s grateful for it too.

 

\--

 

Minhyuk is bleary eyed, his hair somehow flat and messy at the same time when he opens the door to Kihyun. He looks like he's fallen asleep on the sofa. “Isn’t it a little late for a shoot?” He asks. “There’s no natural light left out there, at least I assume there isn't, I haven't looked.” He stifles a yawn and smiles.

“I’m inviting you over for dinner to say thank you for helping me out these last few weeks,” Kihyun says. “Plus I’m trying out a new recipe and thought you might like it.” 

Minhyuk leans against the doorway and says, “You don’t have to repay me for following you and your camera around. It’s not like when I sabotaged your sex life-- oh wait, it is!” He laughs suddenly. “I missed out on that date to help you out on the shoot when it was raining.”

“You didn’t miss out.” Kihyun huffs. “That guy had unrealistic expectations about the size of your dick, we’ve already been over this. Are you coming over for dinner or not?” 

Minhyuk practically cackles with laughter. “Did you.. Kihyun did you really say the word dick quite loudly, in the public hallway? I’m so proud.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes. “I _will_ uninvite you,” he warns.

(But he doesn’t.) 

Kihyun spends the next thirty minutes cooking, and then leaves the dish to simmer and heads into his bedroom. His palms are sweaty and he’s starting to wonder if this was a good idea. It’s just-- Hoseok had only told Kihyun what he already knows. That Minhyuk isn’t going to be there forever - accommodating Kihyun’s rudeness and giving him an inch as Kihyun steps back five and calls him annoying on top of it all.

He needs to get things straight with Minhyuk, even if he has no idea how to do it. There is no way on Earth that Kihyun is going to cry into a wheatgrass shot in front of anyone, that’s for sure.

So, he dresses in a freshly ironed shirt and black jeans, spends more time than he’d ever want to admit making his hair look perfectly imperfect, faces his reflection in the bathroom mirror and promises it that he’s going to be honest with Minhyuk before the night is out.

 

\--

 

“This is nice,” Minhyuk piles their empty plates next to the sink, teetering dangerously near to the edge and leans back against the counter as Kihyun tops up their wine glasses. “I’ve missed this place.” 

Kihyun scoffs. “You live next door. Your apartment is practically identical to this.”

“No, my apartment is a lot less tidy,” Minhyuk points out. “I’ve always liked yours more.”

“Because mine has food in the fridge and no beer stains on the carpet?” Kihyun asks, handing Minhyuk’s glass back to him and setting the plates into the sink gently before they can topple off and smash everywhere.

“That and other reasons,” Minhyuk replies, and Kihyun wants to ask him what he means, but he can’t find a way to.

Instead, he heads over to where his laptop is set up at the table next to the sofa and says, “I got some more editing done, by the way. If you want to-- I mean, you might not want to see it, but.."

"Shhh. Stop pretending to be modest." Minhyuk practically climbs over the back of the sofa to get to where Kihyun is dithering. "Show me the shots that made the cut. Please?"

So, Kihyun does. He pulls up a second chair for Minhyuk to sit down on and watches Minhyuk’s expression as he clicks through the seven he’s chosen so far, reminding him of where they were taken, and explaining why he chose them over other similar photos. Minhyuk listens, and nods at the right places. He makes a pretty little O with his mouth, his eyes wide, when Kihyun clicks to the next photo, and Kihyun can tell that he isn’t humouring him, not one bit. He genuinely likes them.

Minhyuk pushes Kihyun’s hand away from the keyboard gently, so he can’t click away from the current photo on the screen and declares that, “This one is making me want to cry.” He’s so dramatic, it’s stupidly cute. “You can see the confetti in the ground, look. Like a subtle little symbol of what just happened there. It's romantic."

“It did make a good photo,” Kihyun agrees. It’s one that he had taken at the end of a wedding a week or two ago, Minhyuk almost ruining his chances of the perfect shot as he’d demanded Kihyun give him his right hand and then his left to be warmed up between his own. Kihyun had managed to shoo him away in time to take some photos before the confetti left on the street had all blown away, and he was happy with the result. “I was thinking that I might give a print of this photo to the coffee shop to display. Kind of… Promotion for the full collection."

Minhyuk smiles at him, elbow propping up his chin.

“What’s wrong?” He instinctively wipes at his mouth. Maybe he has red wine on his upper lip. 

“Nothing’s wrong. I like seeing you all-- all excited and artisty. And not as tightly wound up as normal.” Minhyuk makes a little noise that is halfway between a laugh and a sigh. "Although you know I like you that way too."

Kihyun rolls his eyes to try and distract from how warm he feels, how intimate this has suddenly become. “Yeah, because I'm easier to annoy that way?"

"Something like that. Or maybe I just like you in general." Minhyuk’s still smiling, still propped up on his elbow. His elbow is dangerously close to the stem of his wine glass, and Kihyun wants to move it away, but he can’t seem to move at all.

“Good,” he says, eyes on the wine glass, because he doesn’t dare look anywhere else or he might allow a smart comment that says absolutely nothing of his true feelings escape his mouth if he does. “Because I like you too." 

He looks up at Minhyuk’s face once he says it, but he doesn’t expect Minhyuk’s smile to have disappeared. “Very funny,” Minhyuk says. He looks small and unsure and so unlike himself: all of the bravado and all of the confidence that he wears so damn well has dissipated into thin air around them.

“I’m not being a dick for once.” Kihyun says, because he can’t go back now, especially not when he can see just how little Minhyuk thinks that he means to him. “I mean it, really.”

"But… But Why?”

“A lot of reasons.” Kihyun takes a breath. “Which I can tell you about if you really want, but only if you’ll move your arm away from the wine glass first. It’s making me nervous, I only got this carpet professionally cleaned last year.”

He reaches out to save the wine glass, and as he does so Minhyuk’s smile returns. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a weird couple of months. sorry for the wait :(

Kihyun wakes up in a panic the next morning, his heart basically in his throat. It’s not that he regrets telling Minhyuk that he likes him (and he likes him a lot), because he doesn’t - in fact, it’s probably one of the bravest things he’s ever done, which makes him feel pathetic but also weirdly proud of himself - it’s just that last night _he told Minhyuk that he likes him_.

Kihyun pulls his duvet up until it’s covering his face and closes his eyes. He kind of feels like he needs to stay like this for the foreseeable future. Here: on his own, without the uncertainty of whatever is going on between him and Minhyuk now. But he needs to make coffee and he needs to send off five more emails to local studios to see where he might be able to afford to show his photos, and lying in a cocoon of his own anxiety isn’t going to get either of those things done, and so, with a deep breath, he begrudgingly gets out of bed.

It’s a quiet and productive day, all things considered. Kihyun almost manages to avoid thinking about Minhyuk’s surprised face and the way that his cheeks had glowed a pinkish hue as he had admitted in words that he finds Minhyuk's exuberance charming and his laughter a comfort, and that he is so attractive it's almost stupid.

Or, at least, he manages not to think about this for short spells - just enough time to send four thoroughly proofread emails to prospective clients. After that, he allows his mind to wander back to the night before for a little while. It wanders to the way that Minhyuk had smiled almost shyly for once, as though they hadn’t yet seen every intimate part of each other, in various different positions, and to the way that Minhyuk had hovered in the corridor for a while, as though he hadn’t wanted to let the night go just yet.

Kihyun had felt it too - the nervous tension still between them long after the conversation had ended, after the bottle of wine was dry and the chaste way they’d said goodnight in the hallway. His heart spinning in his chest even as Minhyuk had paused before tapping in the door code to his apartment and had asked, “Are you sure you haven’t been brainwashed by aliens? Are you sure it’s actually Kihyun inside there tonight?”

For the first time in a long, long time, Kihyun realises he might actually be excited about the prospect of someone really getting to know him. And the _real_ him, no less, no aliens in sight.

It’s _terrifying_.

 

\--

 

Kihyun makes it through the next day without being too distracted from his venue search and waits until he's sure Minhyuk is home from work before he knocks on the wall.

He knocks and then he waits, and then they’re there, again, in the hallway where all of this began.

“It’s funny,” Minhyuk says as he opens his door, lopsided sweater showing off his collarbone as he leans against the doorframe.

“What is?” Kihyun asks, resisting the temptation to reach out and fix the symmetry of Minhyuk’s top.

“It’s funny that no matter how loud I have my television on - or music, or FIFA, or whatever - or even if I’m in the bathroom, or I’m under my bed looking for my left shoe... No matter what, I always hear when you knock on the wall.” He grins. “It’s like I’m attuned to it."

Kihyun thinks about this. “Well, it did used to mean you getting instantly laid, so I’m not very surprised.”

“True.” Minhyuk stands up straighter and raises both eyebrows. “That _is_ what it used to mean. What does it mean right now, though?”

There is something in his gaze that means Kihyun can’t quite tell if Minhyuk is asking a serious question or not and Kihyun’s face is starting to feel warm.

“I’m-- I’m not assuming you…” Kihyun can’t seem to manage a full sentence and his mouth is starting to feel like it’s stuffed with cotton. Damn Minhyuk and his little smirk and his messy hair. “I mean, we _could_ , but it's not even seven and...”

Minhyuk lets out a little snort of laughter. “Okay, so you didn’t knock for sex this time.”

“No.” Kihyun manages to take a breath. “I was wondering if you wanted to, uh, go out with me on Friday night?”

“Wait,” Minhyuk pauses. “Are you asking me out, like, _properly_?”

Kihyun just looks at him. “Properly?”

“On a date?”

_Ah._

Kihyun nods. “I think I am,” he says. “Are-- are you going to say yes?”

“As if I could refuse. I've seen you naked, after all. And you know all of my secret kinks already.” He grins and it practically blinds Kihyun. “Well, almost all of them.”

Kihyun refuses to rise to Minhyuk’s bait and wills his face not to flush any more than it already is doing. But it’s difficult because he’s just asked Minhyuk out and Minhyuk’s got _more_ kinks, and the collar of his sweater is still loose, the skin on his shoulder is smooth and tanned, and, fuck, Kihyun might actually be a little bit in love.

“Yeah. We've kind of done things backwards, haven't we?” He ducks his head. “We started with casual sex and now…” He trails off, because the only way he can think to end the sentence is with now you know I don’t hate you. Or now I’m asking you to go out with me. Or, now I’m ready to _fall in love._

”Now this,” Minhyuk finishes the sentence for him and Kihyun is eternally grateful for it. “Where are you going to take me?”

Kihyun hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Where do you want to go?” 

“With you? I’d go anywhere.” Minhyuk shrugs. He pulls at his top and smiles. “Hey, Kihyun? Next time you knock it best be because you want me to fuck you really hard into your expensive, hypoallergenic mattress. See you on Friday!”

The door shuts with a thud that is sure to annoy one of their other neighbours. But, for once, it really doesn’t bother Kihyun at all.

 

\--

 

When Kihyun opens the door to Fighter Juices, he spots Changkyun leaning against the counter, chewing the end of his pen as he works on the weekly order. Kihyun is secretly proud of how well their youngest friend has settled into his job at Fighter Juices. Hoseok has mentioned on more than one occasion that he’d be lost without his second in command now, even if they were a little awkward spending so much time alone at first.

(“The fact he’s dating your ex might have had something to do with that,” he’d pointed out one Saturday morning a few weeks back, Hoseok drying the pans that Kihyun had used to make brunch for the two of them as Kihyun scrubbed them clean with a vigour apparently impressive for someone with so little muscle.

“No, it's not that.” Hoseok had shaken his head. “That isn’t weird for me. Everyone knows that me and Hyungwon would never have worked out anyway. He’s too like you, and my love for you is purely platonic.”

Kihyun had grimaced. “Hyungwon is _nothing_ like me. He’s grumpy and sarcastic and thinks he's better than me,” he’d said. “How can you say that?”

“Because that’s exactly what Hyungwon says about you.” Hoseok had grinned as he’d said it, only narrowingly avoiding the splash of soapy water that Kihyun sent in his direction.)

Kihyun approaches Changkyun gingerly. “I don’t want to interrupt your hard work,” he says, peering over Changkyun’s shoulder. “But I need your help.”

“I’m not modelling for you naked again.” Changkyun doesn’t even look up, but a couple of the customers nearby do, eyebrows raising around them.

“What? No. I’m not-- you weren’t ever naked,” Kihyun almost hisses. “He _wasn’t_ naked at all,” he says more loudly for the benefit of anyone listening.

“I wasn’t wearing shoes,” Changkyun says as if that counts and then he puts down his pen. “Anyway, Hoseok-hyung says I can only talk to paying customers on the job, so you better get in line.”

Kihyun reluctantly orders a small orange, ginger and carrot juice (at least it isn’t green) and takes a seat at the counter until his drink is ready.

“What do you need help with?” Changkyun asks as he passes Kihyun his juice. "It's not a weird medical thing, is it?"

“I'm just having trouble choosing a place to take someone, uh, important,” Kihyun says. He pushes the juice back and forth along the counter. “On a date.” He’s beginning to regret starting this conversation.

“Woah.” Changkyun - to his credit - actually looks impressed. Genuinely impressed. “You’ve actually, finally, pulled your head out of your ass and asked Hot Neighbour out for real?”

“Hey! My head was never…” Kihyun takes a breath. “Whatever. Look, I need to choose a venue, and it has to be, you know…”

“Fun?” Changkyun says. “Sexy? Dangerous? Sexy _and_ dangerous?”

Kihyun suddenly wonders what on earth he and Hyungwon get up to at night, and then decides that he really doesn’t want to ever know.

“Perfect,” he finishes. That’s the word. “It has to be _perfect_.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡


	17. Chapter 17

 

Kihyun worries his way through the week until Friday comes along and when it arrives it cowes bold, and bright, and loud, just like Minhyuk himself.  
  
Friday is date night with Minhyuk. This is a phrase he had never imagined would be running through his head and one which, if someone had suggested it three months ago, he would have recoiled at. Kihyun's heart is in his throat, anticipation and nerves and disbelief that this - waiting on an actual, romantic, date with _Hot Neighbour_ of all people - is how his life has turned out all rolling through his mind at high speed.  
  
He's excited, _so_ excited, but he also wants to throw up a little bit.  
  
When he knocks on Minhyuk’s door (not the wall, this is a formal meeting, too special for their old signal for sex, Kihyun decides) Kihyun has to try very hard to stop himself from awkwardly wringing his hands together with nerves.

Minhyuk is half dressed when he opens the door to him, sweatpants sat dangerously low on his hips and a towel over his shoulders, and for a moment Kihyun wonders if he’s forgotten about their date.

“I wasn't sure what would be appropriate,” Minhyuk says, sighing.

Kihyun laughs, nerves dissipating at the sight of Minhyuk’s messy hair. “That much has been obvious since we met.”

“To wear, I mean.” Minhyuk opens the door wider to let Kihyun in, ignoring his jibe. “I don’t know where we’re going, so I don’t know what to wear.” He pouts. “I got out of the shower an hour ago and I’m lost. Do you want me to dress up fancy?"

“You can wear whatever you want.” Kihyun says. _He_  has spent all week agonising to make sure that his favourite shirt is crease-free, which meant that he had already ironed it three times before Thursday, but Minhyuk doesn't need to know that. “You don't need to dress up, it's really up to you. I just thought we could grab a coffee and-”

“Coffee?” Minhyuk interrupts and Kihyun suddenly wonders if he should have taken advice from Changkyun after all and have planned a night of debauchery and criminal activity inotepad. The nerves are back and coffee suddenly seems like the most mundane word he has ever uttered in his life. 

“I love coffee.” Minhyuk grins. “I don’t need it, of course. I have barely slept this week as it is, probably excitement, but I love it.”  
  
Kihyun can’t hold back his smile. Of course Minhyuk would hype up whatever idea Kihyun had come up with, even if it was coffee.

“You don’t have to lay it on that thick to make me feel better." He laughs. "Anyway, you didn’t let me finish. Coffee isn’t the date, coffee is just a pit-stop so I can leave some flyers for my show behind the counter. I have more planned.”

“Your what?” Minhyuk stares at him. "You're showing your work?"

“I think I found somewhere to show my new collection." Kihyun shrugs. "It’s just somewhere small, nothing to get excited about,” he points out, but Minhyuk is already smiling widely.

“It's too late,” Minhyuk replies. "I am already very excited."

“That’s what I feared.” Kihyun rolls his eyes, but he can't deny that he would have been disappointed if Minhyuk had reacted any differently. It's cute. “Anyway, after coffee... “

Minhyuk looks like a child who has just been told they're going to Disney World for their birthday. “Yes?”

“There’s a bar downtown with tons of games consoles, they do these tournaments and--I mean, I don’t play, not really, but it’s pretty much the only hobby of yours I really know about, and-- oh it was a dumb idea, wasn’t it? You could just play video games at home and--”

“Are you kidding me? Are you joking?" Minhyuk groans loudly and it does things to Kihyun's dick.

“No?” He manages not to stutter and Minhyuk laughs, hands grabbing at Kihyun’s wrists.

“You want to take me to a gaming bar on our first date?! I love it. I love everything about this date already.” He pulls Kihyun into his bedroom, which is cluttered with clothes and smells of pizza. This doesn't surprise Kihyun at all.

“Yeah, I usually just cook dinner and serve an expensive bottle of wine for my dates," he says, noting the empty takeout pizza box under Minhyuk's bed, "But…”

“But cooking dinner for me is basically a chore for you, right? The amount of times I’ve wormed my way into your kitchen since we met.” Minhyuk pulls a pair of jeans out of a drawer, not bothering to close it again. “I still can’t believe you actually like me. I’m a terrible neighbour.”

“You’re... You're an interesting neighbour," Kihyun says and Minhyuk scoffs and shakes his head.

“I'll get changed and meet you in the lobby, okay?" Minhyuk says. "I think you're going to get hives if you are around this mess any longer and then you won't get to spend the evening with me, which would be crap for you."

Kihyun manages to drag his eyes away from the un-closed drawer, and is met with the sight of Minhyuk peeling his sweatpants down over his thighs. He's missed them, he realises, and he blushes as Minhyuk clears his throat.

"You can think about me naked while you're waiting for me in the lobby," he reminds Kihyun. "Ah, I can't wait to get to kicking your ass at video games.”

"That will not be happening," Kihyun replies as he leaves the room. but he's not sure he's going to be able to concentrate on video games, or on anything at all except for thoughts about Minhyuk that don't involve wearing jeans, for the entire night ahead.

 

\--

 

Minhyuk has clearly not ironed any of the clothes he is wearing, but he looks phenomenal regardless, Kihyun thinks, as they head out into the street. His own shirt feels stuffy, but Minhyuk eyes him in approval, swiping his tongue unconsciously across his bottom lip, and Kihyun feels a ripple of pride in his impeccable appearance.   
  
Minhyuk catches his eye, and then looks away and Kihyun feels a prickle of heat under his collar.

Apparently their flirting has gone backwards along with the order in which their relationship has developed. Its less innuendos and cockiness and more furtive glances and giddy feeling. Both are good, but this might actually be better because now he realises that they mean something more than he'd ever realised their flirting did before.

"You know, when I woke up the morning after we last hung out I thought that maybe I'd just dreamt you saying you liked me," Minhyuk says. "But I guess it really happened."  
  
Kihyun thinks about this. "Does you saying that mean that you've dreamt about me before?" He asks. “Do you dream about me?”  
  
Minhyuk smiles. "It might have done in the past," he says. "Once or twice, maybe."  
  
Kihyun says, "Interesting," and laughs when Minhyuk says, "Usually they involve you scolding me for recycling paper wrongly. I hope you dream about me too," he adds.  
  
Kihyun doesn't confirm nor deny Minhyuk's statement. Instead he says, "We're almost there," as they approach the cafe, and Minhyuk makes an 'o' with his mouth. "Oh!" He says, "I pass here all the time, is this where you always get the amazing Italian-blend iced coffee?"  
  
"You mean the iced coffee that you always take out of my fridge and take sips from without asking permission when I'm saving it to drink later?" Kihyun raises an eyebrow. "Yes, it is."  
  
Minhyuk grins in response, but he goes quiet then, walking a little bit ahead until they reach the doors.  
  
"Thank you, Kihyun." He glances up and smiles at him, but it's a different smile this time - understated, smaller. "Thanks for putting up with me."  
  
"Minhyuk, I--" Kihyun starts, but it’s too late, because Minhyuk is already pushing open the door and stepping inside of the coffee shop ahead of him.  
  
Kihyun makes a mental note to say thank you to Minhyuk for his company before the night ends - he needs to make sure Minhyuk knows that he's appreciated, that he's liked and wanted and that _he_ should be the one of the two of them with a stupid amount of cocksure arrogance.  
  
But for now, he has flyers to distribute and coffee to buy, and Minhyuk is already staring up at Kihyun’s photos behind the counter, a smile across his face.

 

\--

 

Minhyuk’s coffee ordering technique involves changing his mind about size and flavour three times, while Kihyun just says, “My regular, please.” Jooheon doesn’t even have to pause to remember what this is, he’s a consummate professional after all, and Kihyun is there so often that he used to feel embarrassed about he predictable he was. He isn’t embarrassed anymore - Kihyun likes routine and he likes it here, and that’s okay.

Plus they support him by selling his work, so it’s only fair, he thinks, that he support them too by making it his local haunt.

“I’m paying.” Kihyun takes his wallet out quickly before Minhyuk has the chance to do the same, and hands his credit card over to Jooheon with a smile.

“Smooth,” Minhyuk says with a grin. “We’re on a date,” he mouths at Jooheon, who raises an eyebrow in Kihyun’s direction. Kihyun feels his cheeks heating up in response.

“This is just-- just a short stop before we go for drinks,” he explains, because he knows Jooheon won’t mince his words - no matter how nice he is - if he thinks that Kihyun has brought someone to his most regular hang-out as a date. “Actually, we’re here because I was hoping to leave some flyers.”

Jooheon adds a sprinkle of chocolate to the top of Minhyuk’s cappuccino with finesse as Minhyuk watches closely. “Flyers?”

Minhyuk throws an arm around Kihyun’s shoulder, hand tight around the top of his arm as he he says, “Our boy here has an upcoming show. He’s going to be famous.”

“Really?” Jooheon looks impressed.

“Having a show? Yes, I am,” Kihyun replies. “But going to be famous? I doubt it.”

“Bullshit.” Minhyuk looks at him, serious faced. “You’re so talented! Tell him, Jooheon!”

Jooheon nods enthusiastically and Kihyun suddenly regrets introducing Minhyuk to him since they’re apparently already on a first name basis and ready to gang up on him together.

“Hyung, I tell you this all the time,” Jooheon says and he comes out from around the counter to hug him, enveloping Kihyun in a crushed sort of sandwich between him and Minhyuk. It’s claustrophobic, but not in a bad way. And it’s nice to know that people believe in him, truly. Even if he can’t quite believe in himself.

“Has he told you that we sold another print last week?” Jooheon asks Minhyuk when Kihyun is finally gifted some space from the two of them.

“You did?” Minhyuk’s eyes grow comically wide. “Jooheon, I like you. We should definitely talk more in case there are other important things he hasn’t told me.”

Kihyun clears his throat before Jooheon can agree. “Thank you for letting me leave these here,” he says, putting the flyers down on the counter and ignoring Minhyuk’s pouting. “We better be going now or we won't get a table.”

Minhyuk laughs behind his back dangerously as they leave, and Kihyun can only imagine what sort of slanderous things Jooheon might have whispered to him.

 

\--

 

Kihyun us a competitive guy. That’s just the way he has always been, and it’s how he’ll always be - he knows that and he’s long accepted it. He likes to be good at things and when he isn’t… Well, that just won’t do one little bit.

Minhyuk, it turns out, shares this streak when it comes to gaming. His eyes never leave the screen in front of them, his hand leaving the controller he holds and reaching out for his beer every so often as though working on autopilot.

Kihyun’s eyes flicker between the game in front of them and Minhyuk’s face, which, Kihyun is amused to note bears a more serious expression than he has possibly ever seen on his neighbour. It's cute.

It's also the main reason for why Kihyun is trailing well behind Minhyuk in the score.

“You're terrible at something!" Minhyuk exclaims when they pause. "I can't believe we've found your weakness.”

“It's not my fault.” Kihyun throws down the controller with slightly more force than he intended and Minhyuk laughs at his sulking, jabbing him in the ribs happily.

“Then whose fault is it?” Minhyuk asks, like he hopes he knows what the answer is, but needs to hear it out loud to really be sure, and it makes Kihyun wonder what goes on inside his mind all the more.

Kihyun obliges him - thinks _fuck it_ \- and says, “You're right actually, it is my fault, for liking you so much despite trying not to for so long.”

Minhyuk smiles, looks right at him with a soft expression and blinks slowly. Kihyun wishes he had brought out his camera. “I really thought…" Minhyuk takes a breath. "I really seem to piss you off so much. Are you sure you're not just blinded by overwhelming lust because I'm that good in bed?” He's still smiling but it sounds like a real question, not just flirting, not this time.

“You do piss me off and you're almost as good in bed as I am,” Kihyun replies, pausing to smirk. “But I like you because of those things and for other things too. I like you because you're -- you're _you_. I like you, and saying it out loud feels weird, it's been a long time since I've said this much to anyone about how I feel, but I want you to hear it.”

“You want me to hear..?” Minhyuk pulls a face. “What, sorry, I didn't hear you...”

Kihyun pouts. “Yes you did.” It's this sort of response from Minhyuk - teasing, joking, flippant - that would have riled him up a few months back. He'd have huffed and told Minhyuk off and then he would have closed up: flipping over the 'open' sign on his heart’s door to read one saying ‘shop shut, come back never.’

But he's starting to get it now, starting to see that his sarcasm and snark is the same as Minhyuk's jovial flirtation. They're both defence mechanisms. Kihyun feels dumb for not realising this before.

“You heard, but you can hear it again. You didn't dream me telling you that I like you. Okay?”

“Okay.” Minhyuk’s cheeks flare up a rosy pink and it can't be from the alcohol, because his beer is hardly touched. “I like you too, for the record. I've always liked you.”

“Always?” Kihyun asks.

Minhyuk nods. “Always. Except I got everything wrong - all the interruptions and asking for things and being myself. And then… Well, you didn't like me and I couldn't seem to make it right. That's when I came up with the idea of paying you back for all of my shit with something I knew I would get right.”

He drinks his beer now, takes two gulps and then watches as liquid runs over the edge of the glass and drips onto the table. Kihyun moves the games controllers out of the way.

“I thought, if I couldn't make a good neighbour, or a good friend, I could at least make a good fuck buddy. I owed you.” He worries his lip between his teeth, vulnerable, _good_. He's a good person, Kihyun knows it now and he wishes he'd never accepted that offer those months ago, except he doesn't really, in a selfish kind of way. If he hadn't, he would never have gotten over himself for long enough to realise that he wanted Minhyuk around otherwise. Kihyun takes a breath and says, “You've never owed me a single thing.”

Minhyuk just looks at him, unconvinced, like he can't comprehend his own worth. “Nothing at all?”

“Well, except maybe for a new vacuum cleaner and some dry cleaning,” Kihyun corrects himself with a smile. He remembers wine stains on cushions and this time the memory is fond.

Maybe it is for Minhyuk too because he smiles back at him.

“Ah, well my paycheck doesn't come in until the end of the month, but I could totally pay you back in a first class blowjob." Minhyuk grins, making fun of them both - the spark in his eyes present, blinding Kihyun momentarily.

“Don't start that again.” Kihyun says. “But, I mean, if you want to get out of here now I'm down for it.”

Minhyuk licks at his lips, the way that has always distracted Kihyun to no end and asks, “Did you actually factor time for an impromptu blowjob session into your schedule for the date?”

Kihyun wants to deny having a timed schedule worked out in his head for the evening, but he can't, so instead he says, “No, but sometimes plans are made to be broken,” and gets ready to pay their cheque.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic's E rating will finally be back in action in the next chapter(!) 
> 
> As always thank you for your patience with my slow updates, lots of love to you all <3!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long while, hasn't it? I'm sorry! We are back to the E rating, though!!!
> 
> Probably only a few chapters to go now :)

They take the first cab they can hail back to their apartment block. Kihyun checks his emails out of habit, mainly for something to do with his hands, because he’s weirdly nervous and scarily excited, as if this is the first time he’s taking Minhyuk back to his place and he’s anxious to make a good impression on him.

Kihyun knows he shouldn't be anxious though, because he’s made his impression already, he made it long ago, and even though Kihyun is pretty damn certain it wasn’t a good one, apparently it was _enough_. Enough for Minhyuk to be on a date with him, enough for Minhyuk to have left the bar in a hot second at the mention of fucking him. And maybe Kihyun will never feel good enough for himself, but that’s okay, because right now he’s enough for  _ Minhyuk. _

Minhyuk fidgets with his seatbelt and Kihyun catches him grinning to himself as he watches the city pass by out of the window. He hopes that Minhyuk wants this as much as he does. Whatever 'this' is. The cab driver glances at them in the mirror and Kihyun wonders what she thinks of them. He puts his phone away - why is he refreshing his emails again? - and places his hand on Minhyuk’s knee. Minhyuk glances at him, smile still in place, and Kihyun smiles back at him, head swimming with possibilities.

\--

 

In the elevator, Minhyuk says, “Do you think these cameras are really recording us?” and Kihyun follows his eyes to the twin set of security cameras in opposite corners of the elevator. 

“Why?”

Minhyuk shrugs. “Dunno,” he says. “I’ve just always wondered.”

Kihyun knows they’re filming - or one of them is, anyway, the other one broke over a year ago and despite the residents committee complaining to the building manager a dozen times, it’s never been fixed. He’s a good resident, he  _ knows _ these things. He doesn’t let onto this though, just says, “Hmmm. Want to give them a show?” and pulls Minhyuk closer towards him.

The kiss is brief; an electric shock of adrenaline and want that goes straight to Kihyun’s cock, and maybe to his heart as well. 

Minhyuk chuckles when they part lips, his warm breath on Kihyun’s mouth. “I didn’t know you’d be into that,” he says.

Kihyun laughs and shrugs, and Minhyuk kisses him again.

He whispers, “Actually the camera we were facing doesn’t record,” into Minhyuk’s ear and winks at him when the elevator doors open on their floor. Minhyuk rolls his eyes, but he doesn't seem too unimpressed because he says, “Thank you for tonight," as they stand in the hallway.

“It isn’t over, yet,” Kihyun points out. “You might not be thanking me later...” 

Minhyuk steps backwards. ““Wait, we did come home to make out and get naked, right? You’re not going to, like, make me deep clean your entire kitchen, are you? Because then I would _ not  _ be thanking you.”

“You wouldn’t know a deep cleaned kitchen if it smacked you in the face,” Kihyun replies. “Are you coming in?” he asks, because Minhyuk seems to be edging away and he’s starting to lose the confidence he gained in the elevator.

“Yeah… Yes, I am. Just... Just wait in your place for two minutes.” Minhyuk holds up his hands, palms up towards Kihyun and then he rushes to his own door, puts in his pin-code and disappears inside. 

“Uh, wait-” Kihyun starts, but Minhyuk is suddenly gone, and Kihyun is left feeling confused. The drinks he had at the bar have gone to his head and he suddenly wonders if he’s been reading Minhyuk wrongly for the last hour. 

_ Is this not going well? _ he wonders.

But then he hears it from inside his place - a quiet thud. He heads into his apartment, heading through the kitchen as the sound gets louder. When he reaches his bedroom, he is grinning ear to ear, and a laugh he can’t hold in bubbles up from inside him, because the sound is louder now and it’s coming from the other side of his bedroom wall. 

Kihyun knocks back on the wall, laughing as he does. He only has to wait thirty seconds before his apartment door shuts with a bang that reverberates throughout the paper-thin walls of the building, and Minhyuk is there, in his bedroom doorway, already unbuttoning his shirt.

“You knocked?” Minhyuk asks, question complete with a smirk. 

“Nope,” Kihyun replies. “I would  _ never _ do something like that.”

“Hmmm.” Minhyuk crosses the room, slipping his shirt over his shoulders as he does. It drops to the floor and, as it does, Minhyuk actually hesitates, his gaze moving to the floor. Kihyun realises that Minhyuk is worried about being untidy, and it’s such a one-eighty turn from the guy who would waltz into his kitchen, leaving trails of pistachio shells in his wake as he did so a few months ago that Kihyun can hardly believe it.

“Leave it,” Kihyun says, before Minhyuk can try to pick it up and try to hang it on the back of the door. “It’s fine.”

“Won’t you be distracted by the mess?” Minhyuk asks.

“Maybe, but-- just come over here already.” He holds out his hand and grasps at Minhyuk's forearm, pulling him closer. “Try to distract me from it.”

“I see how it is.” Minhyuk grins. He works at the buttons on Kihyun’s shirt, eyes on his hands as he says, “I like a challenge.” When he glances up again and catches Kihyun’s eye, Kihyun almost feels shy, like this is the first time they’re doing this. Like they haven’t done this ever before. 

They’ve definitely done this before. But that’s just it - they did it  _ before. _ Before Kihyun figured his own head out. Before he truly took the time to understand Minhyuk’s personality. Before he fell in love.

They kiss, deep and heady, and agonisingly slowly. Minhyuk cups his face between his hands and walks him backwards until they reach the bed. Minhyuk pulls back for a moment and smiles at something behind Kihyun’s head. “It’s still my favourite,” he says, and Kihyun realises that he is looking at the print he put up on his wall not long before they started sleeping together. 

“You can talk about how talented I am afterwards,” Kihyun says, because feeding his ego is important, but right now his need to feel Minhyuk’s lips around his cock is more so by far. 

He kisses Minhyuk again, angles his head a little to deepen the kiss, open mouthed and needy. Minhyuk unzips his own jeans, breaking the kiss to push them down and kick them off and Kihyun does the same, thanking some higher power that he isn’t wearing his skinniest jeans that take three minutes to peel off. He can’t wait three minutes to touch Minhyuk again, and maybe Minhyuk is feeling the same way, because as soon as Kihyun steps out of his jeans, Minhyuk’s hands are at Kihyuns waist and he is pushing up close to Kihyun, his mouth on Kihyun’s neck. 

“You aren’t wearing the pink ones,” Minhyuk says as he brings his hands round to palm at Kihyun’s ass. “It’s a shame.”

Kihyun is lost. “Pink what?” he asks.

“Your underwear… Remember, the first time we fucked?”

“They were  _ red _ ,” Kihyun replies. Sure, they’d been a little faded from the laundry, but they were not pink, were they? “Cute that you remember, though,” he adds, because it _is_ cute and it weirdly means a lot to him, all things considered.

“You don’t remember, obviously,” Minhyuk smiles. “Because they were pink.”

Kihyun tilts back from Minhyuk’s embrace and furrows his brow. “They were red. Admit that they were red!”

Minhyuk laughs, leaning forward to kiss his furrowed brow. “They were not.” He smiles, moving his hands up to Kihyun’s shoulders and pushing him gently. Kihyun gets the message, sitting down and lying back on the bed. He won’t argue any longer, he doesn’t want to, not when Minhyuk is settling between his legs, tongue wetting his lips unconsciously as he runs his hands up and over Kihyun’s thighs. 

_ Damn _ , it’s hot. It’s hot and it’s happening and Kihyun is painfully hard just thinking about what’s to come. 

“I’m sure that they were red,” he mutters, although now he’s starting to doubt his own memories, but then Minhyuk hooks his fingers into the waistband of his underwear and Kihyun forgets how to argue at all.

Minhyuk’s mouth, Kihyun decides, is one of the wonders of the world.

Minhyuk licks a hot stripe along the underside of Kihyun’s cock and then hesitates, smiles up at Kihyun before taking him into his mouth, lips around the head as he bobs his head once, twice, three times. Kihyun allows a breathy moan to escape him, his toes curling as Minhyuk takes him further into his mouth, until his lips meet his hand around the base of Kihyun’s cock and then pulls up again, Minhyuk’s tongue swirling over the head as Kihyun grabs at the sheets, scrambling for purchase as he falls deeper into the bliss that is the things that Lee Minhyuk can do with his tongue when he shuts up for a while.

Although, Kihyun has to admit now, it’s nice to hear him talk as well. Everything is nice with Minhyuk. This blow job is nice. Or, it’s more than nice - it’s fucking incredible, Kihyun decides. He opens his eyes and watches Minhyuk, his hair in his face, his cheeks hollowed out, a perfect example of concentration on his face as he works Kihyun’s cock over and over. When Kihyun groans this time, Minhyuk pulls off him and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Want to fuck me from behind?” He asks, and Kihyun is still getting used to the cold air on his cock but now a fresh wave of longing is rippling through him and -  _ fuck _ \- he loves how candid Minhyuk can be. 

“Yeah.” Kihyun nods, pushes himself up into a sitting position so he can reach for the lube in his bedside table. “Yeah, that sounds really good.”

“I’ve been thinking about it recently,” Minhyuk says, grinning. “Been getting off to the idea by myself, just behind this wall.” He takes the lube from Kihyun and opens the cap, pouring it over Kihyun’s open hands before he settles himself, ass up, against Kihyun’s pillows.

Kihyun is almost tempted to get out his camera and take a photograph, but he knows Minhyuk would like that too much - would tease him relentlessly forever and ever - so he resists the temptation and instead gives into another kind of temptation and runs his fingers over the swell of Minhyuk’s ass and in between his waiting cheeks.

Minhyuk squirms a little underneath his fingers and it makes Kihyun’s cock twitch. “Is this how you were hoping our date would end?” He asks, because he’s genuinely intrigued, as well as a little amused by Minhyuk’s flinching under his cold hands.

Minhyuk’s voice is muffled a little by the pillow he’s facing. “I was just hoping you wouldn’t bail on me,” he says.

“Why would I ever do that?” Kihyun doesn’t try to hide the surprise in his voice. That is not the response he was expecting, and it brings him back to the countless thank you's Minhyuk had given him earlier in the night.

“People have before. When it’s been about more than fucking, people have bailed,” Minhyuk says. 

Kihyun doesn’t get it, or he does, because he could have been that guy too - too stuck in his own head to realise Minhyuk’s worth. He was that guy, for a while. 

Minhyuk whines. “Now, if you don’t start to touch me properly in the next thirty seconds I will sneakily visit Jooheon to gossip about you,” he says, and Kihyun knows he isn’t joking, so he slips a finger inside of him, and then another, fucking Minhyuk open until Minhyuk whines again, louder this time, and then he picks the bottle of lube up from the bed next to him and squeezes, the liquid dripping onto his cock, some of it running onto the bedspread below. He’ll have to do laundry tomorrow, he thinks. And then he thinks, maybe they can do their laundry together, like a couple, and it makes him smile.

When he pushes inside of Minhyuk, Kihyun has to grit his teeth, because it’s so tight and feels so good that he isn’t sure how long he can last, especially after the warm up Minhyuk had given him. He thrusts shallowly a few times, and then pushes in deep, as far as he can, bottoming out as Minhyuk breathes out intelligible words beneath him.

“What?”

“Tell me what you think of me,” Minhyuk repeats and Kihyun gets a sense of deja vu. 

“You’re loud-- you’re-- inconsiderate of the noise levels in this block,” he says, as he continues to fuck Minhyuk to the rhythm of his words. “And-- and you’re so messy. You can’t do laundry properly.” He says these things - negative things - because he’s used to it, used to saying these things, used to Minhyuk hearing them,  _ asking _ to hear them. 

They sound wrong and stupid and trivial, but Minhyuk feels so good around him and he’s making noises that have Kihyun gripping his ass harder, so he doesn’t think too much about what he’s said until Minhyuk says, “And I’m annoying. I’m stupid. Go on, tell me more.”

“No-- no, you're not. You’re  _ encouraging _ .” Kihyun gasps. “And always so positive and--  _ fuck _ .” 

He thrusts harder and harder into Minhyuk, and Minhyuk says, “Oh,” like he’s surprised, but happy too. 

“And-- you’re hot,” Kihyun continues. He can’t stop, because it’s all true, and he wants Minhyuk to hear it, especially now as the coil of desire low in his belly gets tighter and tighter and he reaches underneath Minhyuk to touch him, Minhyuk’s cock already sticky with precum as Kihyun’s hand grips him and works him over as he fucks into him faster. 

“You’re so hot, and people always like you, and I like you _so_ much, it’s-- it’s _incredible_.” 

The last word comes out in a stuttered breath as he comes, heart racing with it, and as he leans down and presses a messy kiss to Minhyuk’s back, Minhyuk comes over Kihyun’s hand with a satisfied groan.

Minhyuk rolls onto his back and pulls at Kihyun’s sticky hand until he does the same, lying next to him. Minhyuk wipes Kihyun’s hand with his own duvet. “Thanks,” Kihyun huffs. “You know, most people actually wash their hands.”

Minhyuk ignores him. “Those things you said,” he says. “I liked them.”

“I could tell.” Kihyun smiles and he's glad, he's so glad he said them and not the things he used to say when they were fucking. “Hey -- do you, um, do you want to sleep here?”

“Sleeping over on the first date: scandalous,” Minhyuk whispers, theatrically. He turns his head on the pillow, his face close enough to Kihyun’s for it to be little more than an attractive blur. “If I stay, will you cook me breakfast in the morning?” He asks.

“No,” Kihyun replies, all serious faced and stern, but he knows fully well that he will cook breakfast, whatever Minhyuk wants, and he’s looking forward to it.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading, you're all amazing <3


	19. Chapter 19

Minhyuk stirs beside him when Kihyun slips out of the bed, but he doesn’t wake up fully - he just rolls onto his side and sighs, hair falling into his face. Kihyun tucks Minhyuk’s bare arm in under the duvet to keep him warm and sets about opening his closet as quietly as possible.

Kihyun throws on basketball shorts and an old tank-top and heads into the kitchen. He needs caffeine and he needs to reflect on last night, and he needs to do it in that order: brain engaged, memory switched on to replay mode. Kihyun can’t think of the last time that he fell asleep next to someone and woke up to them again seven hours later. He thinks about he times in the past when Minhyuk had tried to stay over and wonders what might have happened if he hadn’t kicked his neighbour out of his bed every time. Would they have got to this point sooner, he wonders? Or would they have never got here at all? 

It’s not worth dwelling on what has been and gone and Kihyun knows this, so he tries his best not to. He makes coffee, inhaling it as he waits for it to cool down enough to take a sip, and then he worries his bottom lip between his teeth as he racks his brain for any mention Minhyuk has made before of his favourite breakfast food.

All that Kihyun can picture is Minhyuk stealing left-overs from his fridge. Minhyuk taking cookies straight from their packet on Kihyun’s worktop. Minhyuk not long after they’d first met, standing in his kitchen with a bowl of steaming rice and vegetables that Kihyun hadn’t even offered him in his hands, licking his lips and saying, “Could do with more salt,” before Kihyun had snatched the bowl away and asked him, not politely, to leave.

Kihyun grins. The more that Kihyun thinks about it, the more he is glad that Minhyuk has always felt so comfortable around him, and it’s weird, because Kihyun hardly feels comfortable with  _ himself _ and yet there is a man in his bed who has been seeking out his company for months. A man who Kihyun almost dismissed before he even knew him. 

Kihyun makes every dish he can remember Minhyuk having said he likes, and then some more, and before he realises how long has passed, the sun is pouring in through the windows across the room, and Minhyuk is calling from Kihyun’s bedroom, “What the fuck is that  _ amazing  _ smell?”

“I got a little carried away.“ Kihyun looks around the kitchen at the array of dishes and dirty pans. He feels slightly disoriented, like he might have just woken up from a dream. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want…”

“I’d have eaten dirt if you presented it to me.” Minhyuk grins. “You know, I don’t deserve all of this.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Says who? I enjoy cooking, don’t overthink it,” he says. He makes sure to catch Minhyuk’s gaze and gives him a reassuring smile.

“Okay.” Minhyuk nods. “Okay. Good.”

They eat in silence, but it isn’t awkward, or stilted, like other morning-afters that Kihyun has experienced. Minhyuk inspects the cushions on Kihyun’s sofa for any signs of the pizza toppings he had dropped onto the sofa months ago, giggling at the sight of Kihyun’s unimpressed expression as he heads back towards the table. “Did you want to kill me when that happened?” he asks, taking a bite of French toast and closing his eyes as he chews. He makes an obscene noise that Kihyun is sure only belongs in the bedroom. 

“A little,” Kihyun says. Minhyuk just smirks, stares him down until he finally admits, “Okay, I might have wanted to kill you a lot more than that.” 

Minhyuk laughs. “Why didn’t you?” He tilts his head to the side, spoon hanging out of his mouth. His hair is messy and there is food on his lip. He looks beautiful.

“Why didn’t I  _ kill  _ you?” Kihyun asks. “What kind of person do you think I am?! A murderer?”

Minhyuk takes the spoon out of his mouth and rolls his eyes, leaning over the table to steal food from Kihyun’s bowl. “You know what I mean, you could have scolded me more… Why didn’t you?” 

“Because you offered to pay for the dry-cleaning.” Kihyun picks up his bowl, which Minhyuk has emptied for him, and heads over to the sink. “Which, now I think about it, you never actually did.”

Minhyuk is beside him, then, cool fingers around his wrist and a glint in his eye. “What about we write off that debt in bed?”

All in all, it’s a _ very _ good morning.

 

\--

 

It’s Wednesday by the time that Kihyun finds time to visit Fighter Juices.  

Between emailing clients about his upcoming gallery show, staring into space thinking about Minhyuk and also making the agonising decision of which photographs he wants to show and where to hang each of them, the week is flying by, and he’s starting to worry that he can’t get it all done in time. Or, at all.

At least, being busy is part of it. The other part, the part he is ashamed of, is that he’s been avoiding his friends and their interest in his personal life. And, he knows they only ask questions because they care about him, it’s just that the last week has gone so perfectly, Kihyun is quite sure that he’s about to fuck things up and end up jinxing what is going so well.

He spots the flyers as soon as he walks in: a pile by the cash register, in pride of place. “Where did you get these?” He asks, takes one and scrutinises the font he had chosen to advertise his show.

“Jooheon brought them over. We know you gave them to him first.” Hoseok crosses his arms.

Changkyun laughs. “Hoseok-hyung is highly offended about it, if it wasn’t obvious.”

“It’s obvious,” Kihyun says. He turns back to Hoseok, feeling a little sheepish. “Sorry. I didn’t know if leaving flyers here would be okay,” he admits. “I mean, the show is a pretty self-indulgent venture. I don’t know if I even want anyone to come.”

“Kihyun, you’re my best friend,” Hoseok unfolds his arms and leans over the counter. “You don’t get to  _ choose  _ whether I come. I'm coming. And I’m encouraging every single one of my customers to check the show out too.”

Kihyun says, “Oh, so no pressure on me, then?”

“You know you’re good. You just need the world to know it too.” Hoseok shrugs and scoffs at Kihyun’s expression. “Oh no, don’t pretend to be all humble now, we’ve all dealt with your ego for years, we know you’re talented.”

“Well…” Kihyun can’t help but grin. “Thank you.”

Changkyun pulls a stool up at the counter next to him, sipping at a bright orange smoothie. “What about thanking me?” He asks, spinning the stool around as he says, “I even persuaded Hyungwon to agree to come see it. He’s cancelled on some industry party for it.”

“And I’m meant to  _ thank  _ you for that? He’s probably coming to sabotage my career.” Kihyun sighs. “Or to distract all my potential customers from my work with his ridiculous model face and-- and height.”

Changkyun grins, gleeful and smug and says, “I’ll let him know you said that.”

Kihyun shakes his head. “Please don’t,” he says. Changkyun just laughs at him until Hoseok interrupts.

“Jooheon also mentioned that he met the mysterious Minhyuk,” he says. He looks truly wounded, eyebrows raised in accusation, mouth pursed into a pout, and Kihyun can’t help but sigh at the sight in front of him.

“Ah, I knew this wasn’t just about the flyers.” 

“Why haven’t you brought him in here?” Hoseok asks. “Why are you hiding him from us?”

“Yeah, hyung, we don’t bite,” Changkyun adds. “Not hard, anyway.”

“I’m not hiding him! It just happened that we were passing by the coffee shop at the time and you weren’t open, and... " He runs out of excuses. It's true, to an extent. Kihyun is conscious of how much Hoseok knows about the way Minhyuk had come into his life like a human whirlwind, and part of him is scared that if he introduces Minhyuk to his friends, Minhyuk will hear too much about how prickly and self-centred Kihyun really is. Or he'll want to see Hoseok with his shirt off. _Everyone_ wants to see Hoseok with his shirt off. "Look, he’ll be at the show. You can all meet him then.” 

Changkyun sips at his drink again. “So, can we tell him about how you made us help you make a list ways to get him kicked out of the building when he first moved in and drove you crazy?”

“That didn’t happen,” Kihyun snaps, but it  _ had _ happened. He’d bad-mouthed his neighbour at every opportunity back then, allowed Minhyuk’s conflicting personality to burrow under his skin and take a hold so strong that he’d just about managed to convince himself for months and months that he didn’t find Minhyuk insanely attractive at all. “Can’t you just say nice things about me?”

“We’ll try our best.” Changkyun grins as he gets down off the stool, but Kihyun’s nerves aren’t settled.

 


End file.
